HE DELIVERED the goods as Carlton coach with an eight-point win over Fremantle on Friday night, and now Brett Ratten needs a bundle of joy to complete a perfect weekend.

Ratten's wife Jo is due to give birth to the couple's third child on Saturday, and the coach wasn't particularly keen to bask in the glory of Carlton's fourth win for the season after the match, looking instead to race off to Perth Airport and get on the next flight home.

"I haven't checked my phone yet, but (team manager) Shane O'Sullivan has had his phone very close and I'll be jumping on a plane very shortly," he said.

It's hoped Jo didn't watch the final quarter of Friday night's match as Freo charged home with the last three goals to make the tiring Blues nervous.

The Carlton coach admitted he was "definitely worried" by Freo's large surge.

"They had good momentum, and when we tried to penetrate our 50 they marked it and the rebound was really quick which put us on the back foot," Ratten said.

"To win with 15 (scoring) shots … we are really happy to grab the win.

"I thought the third quarter really changed the game and just how accurate we were in the first half.

"But in the third quarter, the stoppage work from our boys really got the game back on track for us and gave us a bit of breathing space."

While Chris Judd's numbers were down on their usual output thanks to a heavy tag by Ryan Crowley, Ratten was more than pleased with his skipper's effort to win 17 possessions (15 contested), eight clearances and lay three tackles.

"He is just a true champion of the game and he just finds a way," Ratten said.

"If he has to play forward, so be it. He is willing to do that for the team to assist us to win the game."

In response to Gary Ablett's mid-match tweet that criticised Crowley for playing the man not the ball, Ratten said: "Gary's been around the midfield for a while so he just put his opinion out.

"Chris is a real ball player and oppositions try to nullify his influence on the game."

Andrew Walker's successful return also drew praise from Ratten, particularly his running power.

"He is a machine; he'd be in the Craig Bradley class of running … he's just a freak and he does it on the bit," he said.

"He is so important."