ANDREW Carrazzo says the Carlton players were intent on making a statement against the Western Bulldogs after a fortnight of intense but justified media scrutiny.
The Blues' vice-captain said the 28-point win over the Dogs on Sunday came after the players finally shifted to "the same page" after four straight losses to start the season.
He said the scrutiny on the players and club had been justified in recent weeks but felt the win over the Dogs signalled a positive change.
"After you have two or three really bad performances, you sort of take stock of where you're at and you re-evaluate things," Carrazzo told AFL.com.au.
"I know we've copped it in the media the last few weeks and it's been deservingly so.
"We haven't played up to standard but sometimes that gives you time to reflect and realise what we really were doing wrong and maybe we weren't playing to the standards we expect.
"Tonight was really a shift in the right direction."
The Blues' leaders have been in the gun throughout the season's first month with questions raised about their on-field leadership.
Carrazzo, who is an experienced leader and in his second season as joint vice-captain, said the scrutiny on the club's senior players had been rightfully placed.
"It's not nice but that's the world we live in and we thoroughly deserved the stuff that was being said about us," he said.
"We hold ourselves up to some really high standards, we weren't playing up to those standards and criticism comes with the territory and I'm glad that we took a step in the right direction."
Carrazzo said the Blues' intensity throughout the game and their "team footy" were important elements of how they were able to break their season duck.
He said the losses to Port Adelaide, Richmond, Essendon and Melbourne had stung and left the players determined to not only play a winning brand of football against the Dogs but to do it in a convincing style.
"It was most important to [make a statement] for ourselves," he said.
"When your confidence is low, like it was, sometimes you just forget the things that make you a good team and a good player and sometimes getting on a bit of a roll can be the catalyst to trigger your confidence coming back.
"I think we played decisively tonight and we moved the ball well and that's a really important thing for us."
Coach Mick Malthouse applauded his players for seeing out the victory despite the Dogs moving within three straight kicks in the last quarter when the Blues were down to one fit man on the bench.
The hamstring injury sustained by Chris Judd in the third quarter, coupled with the leg complaint suffered by Ed Curnow in the fourth, meant the Blues were heavily compromised when it came to rotations late in the game.
After what Malthouse described as a "ballistic" type of game, Carrazzo said the hard-fought win was made even more significant.
"After about the third or fourth time of being sent back onto the field when trying to come off, you start to the feel the pinch," he said.
"That's another reason I'm really proud of the boys with the way we dug in and got through the game, and not just coming out with a win but how we played, being down to one on the bench in the last quarter.
"It was really challenging and I'm just glad we came through."
