The club refused to speculate on the seriousness of the 19-year-old's injury, as it was uncertain exactly what damage had been done. 

Carlton coach Mick Malthouse was not in the mood to fan any fears that Menzel, who underwent a LARS reconstruction aged 16, had ruptured his ligament again. 

"[With] anyone who has hurt a knee, I'm not speculating on what they have got," Malthouse said. 

"I don't know. The doctors don't know. They can have their ideas, but until it is confirmed there is no point speculating." 

The Blues also lost Andrejs Everitt, who has had an excellent year at Carlton since crossing from the Sydney Swans, to a knee injury in the first quarter. 

Malthouse was equally succinct when asked about Everitt's injury. 

"I'm not going to speculate," Malthouse said. 

The injuries soured an otherwise triumphant night for the Blues, who led from midway through the first quarter to silence the doubters and ease some of the pressure building on Malthouse. 

The veteran coach said it was hard to judge whether it was the club's best win for the season, although he didn't need to say North Melbourne was clearly the club's biggest scalp for 2014.  

Malthouse said the team had identified some of the reasons it was dropping off in one quarter each week and addressed them. He would not reveal the tactical changes, but he did acknowledge the mindset. 

"What we tried to do was just take a quarter at a time and really focus on that quarter," Malthouse said. 

It meant that when Carlton dropped off in a quarter this week – as it did in the third term – it only relinquished 12 points on the scoreboard as opposed to conceding more than 20 points in the quarter, as it has in six of its past seven games. 

Instrumental to the win was the prodigal son Jarrad Waite, who made a wonderful return gaining 19 disposals and kicking four goals, and Lachie Henderson, who kicked six goals in his 100th game. 

Malthouse said the 31-year-old Waite had been stiff not to play the previous week when forced out with a calf twinge. He said he hoped the performance would be a catalyst for a turnaround in Waite's form. 

"I hope the process is in place now that Jarrad can be a good contributor for us," Malthouse said. 

He was satisfied with the contribution of Cameron Wood, who made a surprise return to AFL football. Wood had not played since round 22, 2012 – when he was at Collingwood – and looked to have left football behind until the Blues made him a rookie for 2014. 

"I reckon he is so much more mature than what he was at Collingwood," Malthouse said. 

The coach conceded Wood was beaten in the ruck contests, but thought he battled hard around the ground. Wood also chipped in to kick a vital goal in the second quarter. Whether he keeps his spot will be dependent on the performance of demoted ruckman Robbie Warnock in the twos. 

Malthouse also remained unrepentant for his behaviour last week when he shouted at Channel 7 boundary rider Cameron Ling at half-time, an incident that dominated the headlines and conversation in the lead up to the game.  

Asked whether it was a tough week, he snapped back: "Every week is a tough week." 

Pushed, he returned fire as he has since he began coaching in 1984. 

"Do I need to get to confession or something? Did I murder someone?" Malthouse asked.  

No-one stuck around long enough to test whether his question would remain rhetorical.