CONTRARY to popular belief, Robbie Warnock asserts he didn't make the decision to leave Fremantle for Carlton until his former club's 2008 campaign had finished.

From the moment his manager Colin Young put contract talks with Fremantle on hold after round six, pundits tried to forecast the decision he'd make.

However, the 21-year-old maintains he didn't commit to pursuing a return home until a shoulder reconstruction ended his season with five rounds to go.

"It was in the back of my mind, but I never really gave it a lot of thought until I got injured because I wanted to concentrate on playing good footy. I was happy to let the year pan out and then sit down and think about it at the finish," Warnock explains.

"I tried to distance myself from [the debate in the media] as much as I could and didn't read too much into it because most of it was all speculation.

"They were saying that I was going home from February and I never really made my mind up until the end of the year and even then it was almost a flip of the coin when it came down to it."

After careful consideration, Warnock was swayed by a desire to be closer to family and friends, but also felt starved of opportunities behind giant ruckman Aaron Sandilands.

"Aaron was playing about 90 per cent game time because they didn't think they could afford to have two ruckmen on the ground," he says.

"They thought it took away from the running ability of the team, so there was an opportunity factor in the move because you don't want to be sitting on the bench for the majority of the game."

Having made the tough decision to leave Perth, Warnock was courted by "a few" suitors but only seriously considered overtures from Melbourne and Carlton.

He admits he may have unintentionally disappointed Fremantle officials when he met with representatives from the Demons while recovering in Victoria after his surgery.

"When I got back to Melbourne after I had my shoulder reco we had a bit of a chat and they gave me their thoughts on where they were going and where they thought I could fit into that," he says.

"It upset a few people at Fremantle, but I think that was blown out of proportion a little bit as well."

The lure of playing alongside brother Matthew at Melbourne was strong, but Warnock eventually came to the conclusion that Carlton was a better fit.

"I think they're probably a few years ahead of Melbourne," he says.

"The Blues have got a great list together and hopefully we can be playing a bit of finals footy and maybe even, fingers crossed, play in a premiership which would be a dream come true."

Despite playing just 21 games in three years, Warnock's bid to join the Blues was a hot topic in the weeks leading up to October's exchange period.

"I certainly didn't plan for it to be that way," he says.

"Being in Perth in that fishbowl environment I was getting used to being in the papers every second day, so I sort of learned to deal with it before I had made my decision and before the whole trade week thing.

"I was away in Bali during trade week as well so helped me get away from it and just allowed the clubs and my manager to deal with it."

Warnock was unaware of the often-tense negotiations between Fremantle and Carlton and remained confident a deal would get done despite the former's demand for a first-round draft pick.

"I think that's all just part of trade week though. There's a lot of huff and puff and then it comes back to the Friday deadline when all the deals get done," he says.

"In the end Freo had to do the deal because they were either going to get something or nothing which was the reality of it. There was a bit of push and shove, but I had a lot of faith in my manager and the clubs to be able to get a deal done.

"I was in a fortunate position in that I had a little bit of bargaining power and was in a situation that not a lot of players find themselves in."

Warnock is now set on putting the whole saga behind him, but doesn't begrudge Fremantle playing hardball with the Blues.

"I can see both sides of the story; both from a player's perspective and where the clubs are coming from," he says.

"You have the drama of wanting to repay the club, and you want to do the best you can in regards to that, but you also want to get where you want to end up because it could be the determining factor in how your career goes."