Carlton coach David Teague says axed veteran Marc Murphy will not be gifted matches just so he can become only the sixth player in the AFL club's storied history to reach 300 games.
Murphy, a former Blues captain, was dropped for the second time this season as Carlton prepare to tackle GWS at Giants Stadium on Saturday.
The 33-year-old made his name as a midfielder, but has struggled this year after shifting into a new role mainly across half-forward.
Teague hopes Murphy, who is five short of his latest milestone on 295, can recapture form in the VFL and earn his way back into the team.
The former No.1 draft pick is out-of-contract and he is widely expected to retire at season's end.
Craig Bradley, Bruce Doull, Kade Simpson, John Nicholls and Stephen Silvagni are the only Carlton players to reach 300.
"Marc has been a great player for a long time," Teague said.
"It would be great to get him to 300 but we're not just going to give games away.
"We're going to do what's in the best interests of this football club going forward and I think one of the great things Marc's done is put this club first.
"He made a great point to me the other day that it's a good career whether it goes on or not.
"But he's not finished yet, we've got half a season to go."
It comes as an external review was ordered by new president Luke Sayers into Carlton's struggle to again become a contender.
The Blues enter the match against the Giants at 4-8, having lost all seven games to top-eight teams.
Teague, who is in his third season as coach, declared the review "great" and believes good things can come out of it.
"The review might come back and show we're doing some areas well, but I've got no doubt there will be some areas we can improve on," Teague said.
"We want to be a high-performing club with sustained success. We're not doing that now so we've got to get better.
"I've got a lot of confidence and belief in the direction we're going. The Carlton football club will be back where it should be in the near future."
Australian Associated Press
