Carlton Coach Mick Malthouse says the Blues are not thinking if they shut down Gary Ablett they are "are going to stop Gold Coast".

Malthouse said it would be a horrible mistake to underestimate the value of other players in the Gold Coast team.

"If Bluey (Suns coach Guy McKenna) had his way he would love everyone to focus on Ablett and forget the rest of the team and he knows me and [we] can categorically say that will not happen," Malthouse said. 

Ablett had 49 touches and kicked two goals – including a crunch goal in the last quarter – in a match-winning performance last Saturday against Collingwood.

Malthouse said the growing maturity of the list was what was making Gold Coast a much more formidable unit in 2013.

He said those building the Suns' list had got the balance right, mixing senior players with talented early draft picks.

"If it was just Ablett I'd be quite happy," Malthouse said. "It's no longer just Gary Ablett. It is the team."

However Malthouse said stopping Ablett's effectiveness would be one of the considerations for Carlton entering the game as he was the best player in the competition.

"I don't think any player is unstoppable. What it is it is the effectiveness. If you say that he is going to get 30-odd possessions, it is how and where you get them and what he does with them," Malthouse said. "If you are not going to be around him and let him please himself with what he does with it: 'good luck'."

The Blues' coach did say it was unlikely the era's best two midfielders, Ablett and Carlton's Chris Judd, would go head to head for very long.

"Give up the romanticism about football," Malthouse said, with a wry smile. "It doesn't win games of football.

The Suns defeated Carlton at Metricon Stadium in round 22 last season, a loss led to Blues coach Brett Ratten being sacked.

Including that win, Gold Coast have since won six from its past 10 games at Metricon Stadium including three of its past four games.

Its win over Collingwood last week was its first win in its history over a team in the top eight.

"They are a side we need to take very, very seriously," Malthouse said.