Carlton coach Brett Ratten rued one that got away for the errant Blues but could still find some positives from another Gabba meltdown.

The Blues shot themselves in the foot with poor finishing and over-use of possession against a far more accurate Brisbane in their 16.11 (107) to 12.16 (88) Easter Thursday loss.

But Ratten's men still managed to put a wasteful 3.11 first half behind them to blow the Lions away with a seven-goal third term as Marc Murphy, Kade Simpson, Matthew Kreuzer and Bryce Gibbs cut loose.

"I was pleased with our effort around the contest and the stoppage, where the Lions get a lot of their energy from," Ratten said.

"I thought we beat them inside the game but I thought our effectiveness outside the game was something that really let us down.

"In the final quarter 51 per cent kicking efficiency, it's hard to win games of football when you do that and we let ourselves down."

The most disappointing aspect for Carlton was the inability of livewire pair Eddie Betts and Chris Yarran to convert their chances in the forward 50.

"I thought an advantage we had pre-game was our small forwards and we got no goals and they got two out of (Todd) Banfield," Ratten said.

But Carlton could feel as though Irishman Setanta O'hAilpin (four goals) and Lions recruit Lachie Henderson (three) are stepping into the breach left by Brendon Fevola.

"I thought our two key forwards were pretty good for us," Ratten said.

"Maybe just the way we kicked the ball at times didn't give them the true advantage. We over-finessed the ball at times.

"I thought we found a forward in (Setanta) O'hAilpin that can play at ground level and in the air, which is great for us, so there were really good signs for some of our players."

The Blues were hit hard by the scratching of defender Paul Bower (quad) who was earmarked to line up on game-breaking Brisbane skipper Jonathan Brown.

"(Bret) Thornton tried hard, but Brown's just a really good player in great form at the moment, and he's kicking the ball extremely well from 55-60 metres out," Ratten said.

"He was the difference between the two teams."

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