CHRIS Judd's rounded view of life is a trait shared by few within the football industry, but his outlook served as a form of comfort for his coach in the toughest week of his tenure at the Blues.

Brett Ratten's future at Carlton had been the story of the week leading up to Friday's win over Collingwood.

Many questioned whether he would see out his contract with Blues president Stephen Kernahan's words on Ratten dissected possibly even more than Carlton's actual form.

Speaking after the win over their traditional rivals, Ratten said Judd's attitude to life had rung true as the external pressure mounted.

"Chris Judd has brought a lot of things to our football club. He has taught me one lesson ... the balance to life and trying to keep it level," Ratten said.

The Blues coach dismissed criticism of his coaching style, reiterating that he had felt no pressure from anyone within the club.

"I'm not fussed what they write or say or do. At the end of the day I worry about what happens within our four walls," he said.

But the Blues coach did bristle early in the post-match media conference when he was asked why the Blues couldn't play with that level of intensity for the previous seven weeks, during which they had only defeated lowly Melbourne.

"Sometimes you play and it's an arm wrestle. From my point of view you can play good hard football and you get beaten sometimes," he said.

"There are not too many teams that go through a season undefeated. To say we haven't played any good football for seven weeks, I think it is insulting."

The fact Carlton's return to the winning list came against traditional rivals Collingwood could be seen as the proverbial cherry on the cake but Ratten said he took no extra delight by defeating the Magpies.

"Let's take away the opposition, I think it was the way we played the game. I thought it was outstanding, I thought our effort and our intensity to maintain that over four quarters was brilliant," he said.

"It's always nice against the arch enemy but at the end of the day that's how we want to play football and that was very pleasing."

Luke Holmesby is a reporter for AFL Media. Follow him on Twitter - @AFL_Luke