His move back home to Melbourne was one of the big stories of last year's trade week, but a persistent foot injury has frustrated his efforts to show he was worth the investment by the Blues.
The good news is Warnock and the club's medical staff are confident they've got the measure of the injury and making his debut in the navy Blue this year remains firmly on the agenda.
And in something of a bonus, it won't be the 206 cm beanpole who came to the club fresh from shoulder surgery who eventually takes the field for Carlton.
"It has been frustrating, but at the same time it's almost been a bit of a blessing in disguise because I've been able to put on a bit of weight and get the shoulder right," Warnock said.
"Spending time in the weights room is one of the few things I've been able to do. When I came to the club I was 93 kg and I was 104 kg when I got weighed last Thursday.
"With the extra weight, though, you've got to learn to run with it as well, so it's something else to take into account.
"The extra size is great and should help me hold my position, but we're very mindful of making sure I can carry it properly."
Warnock admits he was probably his own worst enemy early on with his desire to get out there and earn his stripes following pre-season ankle surgery.
"I probably started back running after the clean-out too soon and around Christmas was when I first got sore which was the first occurrence of the stress fracture," he said.
"I was in a moon boot for about five or six weeks and when I got out of it I pushed it too hard again and early February was when I got the second one."
The fracture is not in the dreaded navicular bone that has dogged the likes of James Hird, Michael Gardiner and Matthew Egan in the past, but rather the calcaneum or heel bone.
"It's not a common one. Most footballers get navicular problems, but mine was more related to the surgery," Warnock explained.
"I didn't get a full range of motion back which altered the mechanics of my foot, so everything was a bit tight, which put strain on some different areas of the foot which weren't used to it.
"Both times it came on all-of-a-sudden. It wasn't like a gradual build-up of pain where you could back off a bit, which is what most stress fractures are like.
"We're pretty confident we've got it sorted out now. I just have to take more time with it and build up the running intensity a bit more gradually."
This easy-does-it approach is at odds with Warnock's burning desire to get back on the park quickly, but it's the course of action that the club's medicos, in consultation with expert's at the Australian Institute of Sport, have determined will yield the best results.
The 22-year-old was back running in the first week of June and is listed as a four-week proposition in the club's latest injury update.
"It's good to have a goal of when to come back," he said.
"We're saying four weeks at the moment and we're confident we can make that, but last time trying to work to a set timeframe probably got to me a little bit. I wanted to be out on the track and up and going by round one and that's where I pushed it a bit too hard.
"This time we're just listening to what my body's telling me and not letting the return date determine how I train. But four weeks is a good, realistic picture of where I'm at."
Warnock, who shares a Port Melbourne apartment with his Demon brother Matthew, is loving being back in Melbourne and has tried to maintain a positive outlook despite the setbacks.
But he admits being a footballer who isn't playing football can get to you at times.
"You can take away from it what you like, but it's not the most enjoyable thing in the world as a footballer to be riding the bike or chasing that black line at the bottom of the pool," he said.
"There are doubts along the way, but that's when you've got to reassure yourself that you are coming from a fair way back and that it's not going to happen overnight.
"It's frustrating and no time's a good time to be in rehab, but there's not much you can do about it. You've just got to suck it up and get on with things."
Once he reaches peak fitness, Warnock's skills are bound to be a little rusty, having only kicked a football sparingly since Christmas. He acknowledges this, but feels that's nothing a couple of games at VFL level won't fix before he makes his highly-anticipated debut.
"I know I'm going to have to be pretty patient as I work toward getting a bit of touch back," he said.
"When you come to a new club you want to jump in and start trying to earn the respect of the boys. It hasn't gone to plan early on, but I'm confident that’s all behind me now."
