Sunday evening’s opening round match with Port Adelaide at Etihad Stadium doubles as Robert Warnock’s 50^th game for Carlton . . . not that the resident ruckman will be doing cartwheels when he breaks the dark Navy Blue banner.

Talk to the big bloke in the revered No.11 guernsey and it’s pretty obvious he’ll be taking it all in his long, loping stride.

“It’s obviously good to get to 50 because it’s taken me a little while to get there whether through injury or whatever,” Warnock said in a break between training sessions at Visy Park this week.

“But I won’t be skiting about it. Really it’s just business as usual.”

In this his eighth season at the elite level, Warnock has coped with the many and varied changes of an uncompromising competition.

“It’s even more of a running game now, there’s a bigger emphasis on the defensive side of the game, there’s not as much space with the way teams defend these days, and blokes are generally quicker and stronger,” he said.

“In the end, all players have just had to evolve with it.”

And by Warnock’s own admission, an extended pre-season campaign through 2013-14 has truly helped his cause “so hopefully that translates to more senior appearances than last season”.

Lachie Henderson, Brock McLean and Rob Warnock celebrate their first win as Carlton players in Round 1, 2010. (Photo: Lachlan Cunningham)

“I’ve probably just come off my biggest pre-season so far,” he said. “The mind and the body are pretty good, I’m really enjoying it here and the people we’ve got around the club are fantastic.”

Then there’s the team within the team.

“Mick (Malthouse) is really about players enjoying their time and doing their bit for the side and if that happens he’s happy,” Warnock said. “‘Butters’ (High Performance Manager David Buttifant and Rob (Director of Development and Coaching Robert Wiley) have also helped keep it all in perspective, having experienced powerful life lessons along the way.”

The 311^th Carlton player since 1897 to complete his 50^th senior appearance for the club and only the second after Aaron Hamill to do the deed against the Power, Warnock, the 21-game former Fremantle follower, found himself at Visy Park after a complicated trade with selection No.65 (Rhys O’Keeffe) for No.24 (Nick Suban), No.56 (Ben Bucovaz) and No.68 (Tim Ruffles).

Clearly, Carlton knew what it was getting.

But that was then, this is now, and Warnock has every reason to believe the best is yet ahead.

“I’m 27 this year so I’m getting on a little bit, but they say big blokes mature a bit later,” Warnock said.

“The other thing is that when I was first drafted I came in at 77 kilos and now I’m probably 30 kilos heavier. So I’ve had to learn to put it on and run with it, which is probably why it’s taken me a little longer.

“You’ll often hear players trot out what their coaches say, that the harder you train the luckier you get, and really it’s all about persistence. Eventually if you persist and persist things will turn your way.”