BRETT Ratten admits to growing concerns about Jarrad Waite's back complaint after the important forward was ruled out of Carlton's clash against Port Adelaide on Saturday.

Waite, 29, hasn't played since kicking one goal in the loss to St Kilda in round seven and the Blues are hopeful, rather than confident, he will return against Geelong in round 11.

"It hasn't responded the way we'd like and it was one of those things where he's done a fair bit of work, so do we push him earlier in the week to try and get him up, or allow him two weeks of taking a different tack with it?" Ratten said at Visy Park on Wednesday.

"It's now up to the medicos ... they've set a plan for him. Hopefully he gets up for the Cats, but [even if he does] he's missed a bit of footy, so that will be the next conversation - where do we play him if he is right?

"We don't know when he's going to be right at the moment. We just have to wait and see.

"I suppose it's becoming serious with the length that he's out for ... it's something that has probably frustrated [him]."

The coach said the back issue is not related to the hip injury that kept Waite out of Carlton's win over GWS in round six.

Ratten rated centre half-back Lachie Henderson (groin) only a 50-50 chance to take on the Power at AAMI Stadium, but he said Chris Yarran (toe) "will play" after he was a late withdrawal from the side that defeated Melbourne last week.

Andy Collins is also a good chance to play despite sending a scare through the camp when he was helped off against the Demons with what appeared to be a serious knee injury.

Waite's absence will give Ratten the chance to have another look at his three-ruck set-up consisting of Robert Warnock, Matthew Kreuzer and Shaun Hampson, but the coach is keen to persevere with the experiment even when Waite does return.

"We'll keep pushing it, I think it's good, I think it' a great opportunity and we can manage workloads for those big men," he said.

"I think it's something that we want to keep pushing along. I think we need to push the boundaries with it as to how far it goes."

Ratten forecast taking advantage of Kreuzer's versatility to play as a key back or even on the ball if Waite's return to the forward line did upset the balance of big men.

The Blues were made to work hard for their 58-point win against bottom-of-the-ladder Melbourne, in similar fashion to their win against GWS, but Ratten made no apologies for the manner in which the premiership points were attained.

"At the end of the day we kept them to 49 points - I think we have to learn to be a bit patient and just grind out a win," he said.

"If everyone keeps coming to games of football and expecting flair and beautiful play all the time  ... it's not going to happen.

"The competition is making it more contested so I think we have to be more patient as a coaching group, as a playing group, as supporters and even from the media's point of view - we've kicked 100-plus points and kept our opposition under 50.

"What more do you want when you leave the game?"
 
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the AFL or its clubs