CARLTON'S new training facility wasn't the only significant building project in progress at Visy Park this summer. Coach Brett Ratten oversaw a major renovation of his own as he worked feverishly to create a new-look forward line without Brendan Fevola.

The prolific goalkicker's departure sparked queries over the Blues' ability to regularly kick a winning score but Setanta O'hAilpin, for one, is confident Ratten has come up with a potent attacking formula.

Entering his seventh AFL season, the big Irishman is brimming with confidence and looms as a major cog in the team's revamped forward structure which will be based on a concerted group effort rather than relying on the performance of one mercurial star.

It's quite a turnaround considering the well-publicised blow-up that threatened O'hAilpin's footballing future just 12 months ago and the importance of the coming season isn't lost on him.

"Every year is a big year, but this year is especially [for me]," O'hAilpin says.

"Playing in the forward line with Brendan gone, there are a lot of us who have to step up but I'm sure we can share that workload between five or six of us.

"I think we'll have a very unpredictable forward line which will be great. Oppositions won't know exactly who we're going to [inside 50], which will be a massive bonus for us.

"I've got the opportunity to play in the forward line [this year] and I'm relishing every opportunity I get."

New recruit Lachie Henderson, who was being groomed as a defender for the Brisbane Lions, looks set to join O'hAilpin in the tall forward mix after training inside attacking 50 since joining the club.

The development of young defenders Mark Austin and Paul Bower should also allow star swingman Jarrad Waite to spend more time up forward with a resting ruckman, most likely Matthew Kreuzer or Shaun Hampson, just some of the tall timber at Ratten's disposal.

Competition will be fierce but O'hAilpin, who turns 27 the week before Carlton's season opener against Richmond, has done everything in his power to make sure he's right in the frame to add to his 58 AFL games.

With Ireland shivering through sub-zero temperatures during the northern winter, O'hAilpin resisted the lure of home this off-season to spare his body the rigours of such a dramatic change in climate.

Instead he stayed in Melbourne in an environment that he felt would better allow him to attack his off-season fitness regime head on. With the NAB Cup just around the corner the move looks set to pay dividends.

"I'm just really looking forward to the year. I've had an uninterrupted pre-season and I've been happy with the way things have been going on the track," he says.

"Pre-season is where you need to get the kilometres into your legs and thankfully I've been able to do that which hasn't been the case so much in the last few years due to injury."