UNDER-FIRE Blue Dale Thomas is turning a blind eye to criticism of his form, says Carlton coach Brendon Bolton.

Thomas came under scrutiny from media and fans after he turned in a 17-disposal game with little impact in the 43-point loss to Richmond in round one. 

Bolton said the 29-year-old needed to maintain a level of consistency. 

"I talk to every player about their form weekly. One thing I know about Dale is he's working incredibly hard, running incredibly hard, he's investing in our youngsters," Bolton said at Ikon Park on Saturday. 

"Dale, like all our team, are working on consistency from quarter to quarter.

"With the commentary, Dale's had it his whole career, practically. His focus is purely on his role and listening to the feedback internally and working through it. He's done that this week as well."

Thomas' contributions off-the-field remain important at a club with plenty of youth, according to the coach.

"We've turned over this list and in the last few years, we've gone to the draft heavily. We've got some youngsters and it's always a balance of making sure we've got some good experience in and around those youngsters," Bolton said. 

"He, like (Marc) Murphy, (Bryce) Gibbs, (Kade) Simpson, even (Sam) Docherty and (Patrick) Cripps, who are younger, are really helping our youngsters. 'Daisy' contributes in meetings. 

"He's a 200-plus game player. He's been a premiership player, so those words of wisdom and contributions in meetings and things like that are gold for us as a footy club." 

Any attention Thomas might receive from outside Carlton was of no concern to Bolton.

"With all due respect, internally, we don't buy into the criticism. We just worry about the way we need to go about it," he said.

The Blues made no changes after their loss last week, which Bolton said was about allowing the younger players to develop.

"We've got some young depth – (Cameron) Polson, (Zac) Fisher, (Nick) Graham, (Sam) Kerridge, (Harry) McKay – but we didn't want to make rash decisions after one game with a young side," he said. 

"We want to give our guys an opportunity to apply their learning and grow from that first experience." 

McKay showed promising form for the Northern Blues last week. He booted 4.3 in a VFL practice match against Richmond. 

He was drafted at No. 10 in the 2015 NAB AFL Draft but has not yet debuted after a back stress fracture kept him sidelined for the first half of last year. 

While McKay's work ethic at training impressed Bolton, don't expect to see the 200cm prospect in the senior team in the next couple of weeks. 

"We do need to remember he was drafted virtually as a 17-year-old and missed last year, so he's a bit like a first-year player," Bolton said. 

 "The amount of balls that are being kicked into his hands weekly – I remember (Hawthorn champion) Jason Dunstall used to say he'd have hundreds of balls (kicked to him) – he's literally also getting hundreds of balls kicked into his hands. 

"We'll see him debut some time this year." 

Carlton face Melbourne at the MCG on Sunday afternoon. The Blues have won nine of the last 10 clashes between the two clubs.