CARLTON coach Mick Malthouse has labelled Friday night's 41-point loss to Collingwood the club's worst performance under him this season, with the Blues now facing an uphill battle to play finals.
In a nightmare result that saw key forward Jarrad Waite (knee) and Eddie Betts (hip pointer) suffer injuries, Carlton slipped three games adrift of the top eight with eight rounds to play.
Malthouse said Friday night's match changed with four minutes to play in the first quarter, when Collingwood kicked three unanswered goals, and he was disappointed with his players' response.
"This is comprehensively our worst game, no question about that," he said post-match.
"Not because of the scoreboard, but because of the ease at which the opposition were able to score.
"It's foreign to us this year. We've been a very competitive side. We've led sides and lost, we've trailed and rallied.
"It's part of the learning curve for me, and maybe it's going to be part of the learning curve for the player group."
Malthouse said the Blues were beaten "comprehensively all over" by a better side, adding they had allowed the Magpies too many easy goals in the 69-point turnaround.
"They destroyed us in the second quarter and parts of the third quarter," he said.
"We got beaten all over. I'm trying to think of a good player.
"They took the ball away from the stoppages, I thought their forwards generally won one-on-one and their backs won one-on-one.
"It's very hard to find one player who won on his day."
Malthouse said the Blues would take on St Kilda next week "with not even a glance at the ladder", refusing to be drawn on the club's chances of returning to the finals stage.
"You can't reinvent the year, what's happened has happened," he said.
"We are now going into the next round and we have to be better. The ladder is totally and utterly irrelevant for us."
Following St Kilda, the Blues face North Melbourne, Gold Coast, Fremantle and the Western Bulldogs.
Nathan Schmook is a reporter for AFL Media. Follow him on Twitter @AFL_Nathan
