Expect Carlton captain Chris Judd to play during the AFL pre-season, with no concerns whatsoever about his fitness.

That is the word from Blues team-mate Kade Simpson, who believes the dual Brownlow Medallist has recovered superbly from pre-season shoulder surgery and is ready to lead Carlton to 2012 glory.

“He’s probably nearly as fit as I’ve ever seen him,” Simpson said of Judd, who received rock star-like adulation from a big crowd at Carlton’s family day at Melbourne’s Visy Park on Sunday.

“I’m pretty sure he’ll play one or two NAB Cup games and his preparation will be great.”

Judd underwent surgery on his right shoulder in December.

The 28-year-old is not expected to play in next Sunday’s NAB Cup openers against Adelaide and Port Adelaide, but will come into contention after that.

Blues coach Brett Ratten is keen to give some of his younger players – including father-son draftee Dylan Buckley – an early pre-season hit-out.

But Ratten said managing the amount of game time for senior players to ensure they were ready for the round one AFL clash with Richmond was the primary goal.

“If we had the opportunity it would be great to take some of the kids over to Adelaide,” Ratten said.

“It would be great to give those boys a little taste of AFL football so they know what the expectation is.

“Most players will play three games and we’ll sit down on Monday and work out who are the players who’ll be available for those games.”

Midfield gun Simpson is expecting to be one of the Blues’ senior players pencilled in for the Adelaide trip.