ANDREW Carrazzo will never front a Carlton membership drive or demand the biggest queue of autograph hunters at Blues' family day, but he is vital part of his club's 2012 campaign.

In a Carlton midfield blessed with star power and high draft picks in Chris Judd, Marc Murphy, Bryce Gibbs and Matthew Kreuzer, Carrazzo holds a key role as a player who can win his own ball and shut down a dangerous opponent at the same time.

On Friday night Carrazzo lined up on Scott Pendlebury, a man widely nominated pre-season as a Brownlow favourite in one of the most consistent teams of the past few years.

By half-time, Pendlebury had just six disposals and no clearances. Carrazzo's numbers in the same columns were 15 and six. Pendlebury was moved out of the midfield, while his tagger went on to rack up 29 touches and win the Richard Pratt medal for best on ground.

Carlton coach Brett Ratten praised Carrazzo after the match for executing his role perfectly, and said his professionalism was a shining example to his younger teammates.

"From what we ask him to do and what he does for the team … I suppose personally he has success with the best and fairest (Carrazzo won the John Nicholls medal in 2007) but Andy is about team success and he wants to be a part of a successful team," Ratten said.

"He is doing his utmost on the field and off the field to make sure that we have the opportunity."

Carrazzo is well aware that he is more the drummer in Carlton's midfield band, but said it was important for all 22 players to contribute and not simply rely on the work of stars like Judd and Murphy.

"It's a team effort, and we have probably shown in the past that when the load falls on too few we probably struggle and we're predictable to the opposition," he said.

"It's a lot easier to play well when the team plays well, and I think the last few weeks have been an indication of that."

The midfield dominance wasn't just due to the hard work of Carlton's running players, with ruck duo Shaun Hampson and Matthew Kreuzer palming the ball down all night. The Blues finished with 56 hitouts to Collingwood's 26.

"We obviously had a plan coming into the game about where we thought we could hit it and maybe expose them a bit," Carrazzo said.

"Often those game plans aren't followed through for whatever reason, (but) the big guys did a great job and the mids did a great job to win the clearances."