Carlton coach Brett Ratten says he watched his AFL side mature during their fightback 26-point triumph over Port Adelaide on Sunday.

Ratten knew the odds at three-quarter-time were against his Blues - short break, a player down, trailing by nine points.

But Carlton steamrolled Port with a stunning six goal last term to lodge a 17.16 (118) to 14.8 (92) triumph at AAMI Stadium.

"It was a win full of merit," Ratten said.

"Our courage ... I thought some of the players, their mental strength was fantastic.

"And I thought it was a game that we matured as a group.

"To have a five and a half day turnaround, and to run the game out as we did, was fantastic."

The Blues, playing on a short break after their win over St Kilda last Monday night, lost Kane Lucas to a hamstring strain in the first term.

And despite supreme efforts from captain Chris Judd (27 disposals) and influential ruckman Matthew Kreuzer (19 possessions, three goals), Carlton were on the brink late in the third quarter.

That quarter was costly for the Blues - not only did they slip 17 points down some 20 minutes into it, but their utility Jarrad Waite was reported for striking Port's Jason Davenport.

Waite faces a likely ban for collecting the Power player under the right eye with a wayward arm as the pair attacked from opposite directions.

But his report corresponded with a shift in momentum towards Carlton as their midfield, piloted by Judd and complemented by Kade Simpson (29 possessions), Marc Murphy (22 touches) and Andrew Carrazzo (28 disposals), overpowered Port.

Carlton kicked eight of the last 10 goals of the match, with their barnstorming last term of 6.6 to Port's paltry 1.1 stunning the parochial 30,228-strong home crowd.

The dramatic comeback was Carlton's fifth victory from eight starts, while Port was left with the same win-loss ratio - and Power coach Mark Williams lamenting the lack of a killer blow.

"When it all comes down to it, you have to be ready to finish off a game when the opportunity comes," Williams said.

"You have got to step on the throat ... we had an opportunity there and we didn't do it."

Kreuzer's three goals were matched by teammate Setanta O'hAilpin, while Waite, Ryan Houlihan and Jeff Garlett each kicked two.

Like Carlton, Port had 10 players kick goals.

Rebounding defender Steven Salopek booted three from his half-back flank to be among the Power's best with the likes of Kane and Chad Cornes, and captain Dom Cassisi.

Port travels to Darwin to play Melbourne on Saturday night, while the surging Carlton host Hawthorn next Sunday.

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