Carlton superstar Chris Judd will delay a decision on his playing future until the end of this season, saying the state of his battle-scarred body would determine whether he retires.

"I'm pretty clear on what I want to do at the end of the year," Judd told reporters at Visy Park on Thursday.

"At the end of the day, I think it's your body that really decides whether or not you keep playing and the wise thing to do is to make that decision at the end of the year when you know exactly where your body sits.

"So we'll let everyone know what's going on at the end of the year."

Judd, 30, comes out of contract at the end of this season and has played just six games in 2014 because of Achilles tendon and hamstring injuries.

However, Judd said his body was "feeling fine" at the moment and stressed he did not want his retirement decision to be a distraction over the next six weeks for Carlton.

Asked last week whether Judd should play on, Carlton coach Mick Malthouse said his advice to all players in Judd's position was to retire with "something in the tank" rather than playing on one year too long. 

Judd said he had no problems with Malthouse's comments and shared a similar philosophy on when to retire.

The former Carlton skipper said Malthouse had given him the green light to play on in 2015, but would be equally supportive if he decided to retire.

"I've spoken to Mick in passing about retirement and I understand that I've got his blessing to go on if I want to go on and if I want to call it an end this year then he'll support that decision too," Judd said.

"So I'm really clear that I've got his support regardless of which way I choose to go and I think his comments were fine." 

The 265-game veteran says his motivation for the remainder of 2014 will be to mentor and develop Carlton's young players.


Judd is excited by young Blues such as Dylan Buckley and Patrick Cripps, both for their football talent and their drive to succeed.

The former West Coast captain has also been heartened by the seasons of Sam Rowe, Simon White and Levi Casboult this year.

Judd is also confident Carlton, which sits 14th on the ladder with just five wins after 17 rounds, can turn its fortunes around quickly like Port Adelaide has in the past two seasons, but says the Blues similarly will have to make smart list management decisions.

Judd was optimistic the Blues' young talent was comparable to a Power list that boasts former top-10 draft picks such as Travis Boak, Hamish Hartlett, Chad Wingard and Ollie Wines.

"We've got plenty of top-10 draft picks on our list and two or three years ago you wouldn't have known those guys as being blokes that we were going to rebuild a footy club around, but two years later they are," he said.

"I think the talent on our list is good. The guys are working hard and I'm confident in two years' time we'll have some guys who are mentioned in the same bracket as those Port Adelaide guys."

One of the greatest midfielders of the modern era, Judd won the 2004 Brownlow Medal at West Coast and after crossing to Carlton at the end of 2007 repeated his Brownlow success in 2010.

Judd has won five club best and fairest awards – two at West Coast and three at Carlton – and is a six-time All-Australian.

At 23, he captained West Coast to the 2006 premiership.