Chris Yarran will be a long-term player for the Blues, as long as he lives up to the standards expected of a player of his talent, says interim coach John Barker.
Yarran was demoted to the VFL ahead of Carlton's clash with Adelaide in round 10 after failing to meet team standards.
However Barker believes Yarran – who has earned a reprieve for Saturday's battle with Port Adelaide at the MCG – is an important part of the club's rebuild.
"There's never been any question about whether Chris wants to be a Carlton player long term," Barker said on Friday morning.
"Absolutely Chris Yarran is an important part of this club going forward. As long as they stand for what we stand for, they're important to us. And he's definitely important to us."
Yarran's off-field behaviour has some believing the Blues should trade the talented half-back flanker before he becomes a free agent at the end of 2016.
The 24-year-old would likely attract plenty of interest from opposition clubs if the Blues decided to part ways with him.
Yarran responded well to being dropped, firing in the VFL for the Northern Blues on his way to collecting 23 disposals, as well as providing the run and drive that is generally a staple of his game.
"He's a quality player. He played really well in the VFL – gave an effort," Barker said.
"What we stand for, he delivered on. We expect him to do that again tomorrow (Saturday)."
Reigning best and fairest winner Bryce Gibbs also returns from a back injury alongside Yarran in a big plus for the Blues, although of course they lose Chris Judd to retirement.
Barker said the first half of the season, in which Carlton won just one game from 10 starts, had been consigned to the scrap heap.
"We've got to talk about what we do now and what we do going forward, which helps us become a better team," Barker said.
The Blues used the bye round to freshen up and make a few tweaks to their gameplan, although Barker insisted the club's style would not be altered too much.
"In season it's hard to change things dramatically," Barker said.
"The effort needs to be standard and from there we can grow what we do and grow our game plan."
However, the Blues' interim coach rejected claims that Port was 'gettable' coming off a 23-point loss to Geelong on home turf.
"Port Adelaide's a very well coached and drilled team, they ran Hawthorn to within an inch in (last year's) preliminary final," Barker said.
"We're under no illusions as to how good a football team they are. They might have been a little bit off last week but I think that will only spur them to be very good tomorrow (Saturday)."
