Carlton coach Brendon Bolton says the Blues would be foolish to talk about finals despite his side's stunning rise to competitiveness.

Wooden-spooners last year, Carlton have responded from a winless first month of the season by winning five of their last six games - most recently a stirring victory over premiership contender Geelong on Sunday.

But Bolton reiterated his oft-mentioned stance that wins were not the priority for the Blues, and that making the top eight was not a focus.

"I'd be foolish to do that [talk about finals]," Bolton told Channel Nine on Monday night.

Bolton made reference to the Blues' heavy defeat to ladder-leaders North Melbourne in round nine as evidence that Carlton had a long way to go in their development.

"We're only 10 games in, and 5-5. We're still going to have some hard hits I would have thought. Only two rounds ago we had a 10-goal loss against North, but we'll learn from it. We've got a mantra of every week trying to get better. I'm hopeful.

"We don't want to be defined by just wins and losses. We want to be defined by our effort and application. Also we're a real unified club off the field. The wins are just little steps on this journey to say hard work will pay off."