CARLTON captain Marc Murphy has thrown his support behind Mick Malthouse, saying the besieged coach is the right man to lead the team "at the moment".

Murphy also said the players weren't concerned about the club's rebuilding position, or speculation key players faced being traded at the end of this season to expedite that process.

As the Blues prepare to face St Kilda in Wellington - the game where Malthouse will equal Jock McHale's AFL coaching record - Murphy said the players were behind the veteran coach.

"It's been an interesting couple of weeks, opening the papers or hearing on the radio or TV about Mick," Murphy said.

"From my point of view I'm right behind Mick, just like the players are.

"He's a great coach, and I wouldn't have anyone else coaching our club at the moment. He's great for the boys and the club, I wouldn't have it any other way."

Malthouse said this week he felt he had been disrespected by some sections of the football community in the lead up to his record-breaking milestone.

And, while Carlton CEO Steven Trigg said Malthouse had plenty of respect at Carlton, he questioned whether he had the energy to coach beyond the end of this year when his contract ends.

Murphy said Malthouse had stayed stoic despite the recent off-field speculation.

He added that the situation hadn't affected the veteran coach's approach to the clash with the Saints.

"I don't listen a lot to the media, especially not at the moment. The media's there to make comment," he said.

"I know from our point of view we've all got a lot of respect for Mick and I think most of the football world should have. He's been a great person for the game over a lot of years.

"Mick still stays positive. He's very quick to move on from game to game.

"He obviously acknowledges what happens on the weekend, but by Monday morning he walks in fresh and ready to go again. Nothing's changed this week."

Murphy said the players were aware of the reality surrounding where the list was at, but remained united.

He also didn't buy into suggestions the Blues had moved further away from a flag.

"We're realistic where we're at, but I'm only 27 and I want to be captain of our next premiership," he said.

"That's what we're playing for, the playing group as a whole, that's what you want to do - we want to win games of football and get ourselves in the best position to play finals footy."

There has also been suggestion the Blues may have to resort to trading one of their key players in order to aid the rebuild, with Murphy, Bryce Gibbs and the out of contract Lachie Henderson names mentioned.

Murphy said there was no point in allowing such talk to become a distraction.

"You hear heaps of things through the media, but as players you can't worry about people being talked about being traded," he said.

"It's round four, we've got a lot of work to do. All we can focus on is winning games of football, that's what we've got to do tomorrow."