CARLTON coach Brett Ratten has defended his use of so-called ‘tempo footy’ in the face of a Geelong onslaught last Saturday night at Telstra Dome.

The Cats quickly turned a two-point deficit early in the second quarter into a 19-point lead before the Blues went into lockdown mode to deny their opponents the ball.

“I think it is necessary. I think the momentum of the game shows that sometimes you can’t sustain your own effort through a quarter because a team gets on top and they’re out-running you or out-possessing you or they’re just scoring all the time,” Ratten said from Princes Park on Thursday.

“I do defend it in that we did it with roughly six and a half minutes to go, the game was slipping away, we score a goal and go in 13 points down.

“I think that’s fantastic from a confidence point of view for our players; that we re-group, settle and away we go again. I thought it was a great tactic for us.”

Ultimately Ratten’s side was unable to hold off the reigning premiers, who went on to record a 56-point victory, but the coach vowed to continue to use the strategy where he saw fit despite its unpopularity with supporters.

“We sort of found after the Essendon game when you score 134 points and you lose a game of footy; can you play this way all the day?” he said of the round-three loss.

“That’s the debate and we found that it has stiffened us up a fair bit. Have we used it every week or all the time? No. But I think it’s a card that we can draw on and a tactic that we can draw on when we need to hold possession and slow the opposition down.”

Carlton skipper Chris Judd instigated the momentum-changing tactic under instructions from the coach’s box on Saturday.

Ratten was also asked to comment on the merits of the mega trade that brought the former Eagle to the club and his response was unequivocal.

“I think for us it has been an enormous win,” he said of the deal that saw Judd and pick 46 go to Carlton and young forward Josh Kennedy and picks three and 20 go to West Coast.

“We thought Josh would be a good player in the competition and I’m very happy for Josh to be playing great footy for the Eagles. He’s a fantastic kid, but I think we’ve won, regardless of whatever happens to the other picks.

“What was it? Pick 20 [and three], which is Tony Notte and Chris Masten? I’m not too worried about that.

“I know the impact that Chris Judd has had at our football club and Dennis Armfield (who Carlton took with pick 46) as well. For us it’s just a win for us and that’s all we’re worried about.”