Carlton star Bryce Gibbs remains non-committal about his future beyond this season.
Four months on from returning to Carlton in the wake of trade demands to Adelaide being denied, the playmaker dodged around questions when asked if he would repeat trade demands at the end of the current season.
Gibbs, who turns 28 in March, has three years to run on a five-year deal worth an estimated $3 million.
“I’m not looking too far ahead,” Gibbs told SEN’s The Run Home.
“I think I’d be kidding myself if I was thinking six, eight months down the track.
“As soon as the decision was made that I was staying at Carlton my focus was purely on getting back into another pre-season. I’m a leader at the footy club, I’ve played 200 games and I love the place.”
With the Blues in the second of a long and painstaking rebuild under coach Brendon Bolton, finals aren’t likely to be a realistic aim until at least 2019.
By that time Gibbs will 30. Of his 209 games, only five have been finals.
While settling into his 11th season at Ikon Park, the South Australian pinpointed 2015 draftee Harry McKay as a key to the future.
McKay, taken pick 10 in 2015, missed the first half of last year with a back injury but played the backend of the VFL season where he showed glimpses of his talent playing up forward.
“Harry McKay has been one who enjoys a bit of banter around the changerooms, but at the same he’s learning that he can have a big impact on the footy club,” Gibbs said.
“You can’t fault his work-rate and efforts over the pre-season to get his body ready to perform at AFL level.
“I’ve been very excited of what I’ve seen from him thus far.”
The Blues open their season campaign against Melbourne in the JLT Community Series on Saturday at Casey Fields.
McKay, along with key recruits Caleb Marchbank, Billie Smedts and Rhys Palmer, as well as draftees Cameron Polson and Kym LeBois have been named in the 29-man squad.