Carlton steamrolled Sydney with a six-goal third quarter which Blues' coach Brett Ratten described as a "beauty" on Sunday.

The third-placed Blues scored their seventh win in eight matches, crushing the Swans 15.10 (100) to 10.6 (66) in front of 42,788 fans at Etihad Stadium.

It was a wake-up call for Sydney, who had been fifth on the ladder going into round 13 and had high hopes of challenging premiership contenders like the Blues.

Leading by 19 points at halftime, Carlton kicked clear with six unanswered goals in the third quarter with ruckman/forward Matthew Kreuzer and midfielder Marc Murphy vying for best on ground.

Kreuzer turned on a clinic for mobile big men with a fabulous performance in his second game back from last year's season-ending knee injury, gathering 24 possessions with seven tackles and 13 hit-outs.

The Swans showed some fight with a six-goal final term after the Blues had extended their lead to 64 points at the six-minute mark of the last quarter.

Five players - Kreuzer, Murphy, Andrew Walker, Jeff Garlett and David Ellard - kicked two goals each for the Blues.

Ratten said he hoped to regain key forward Jarrad Waite from a hamstring injury in the next week or two.

"Our third quarter was just outstanding the way we just applied pressure around the ball," Ratten said.

"I thought the heat on the footy was something that we created turnovers (from) and opportunities to go forward.

"Our third quarter was just a beauty to look back on. That's exactly how you put pressure on the ball carrier or the man."

Ratten said the Blues tried to get a bit too cute with their ball use in the last quarter.

"We didn't play the basics as we did in the third quarter," Ratten said.

Blues' ruckman Shaun Hampson would have scans on a possible posterior-cruciate ligament knee injury and Ellard was sent to hospital for scans after suffering concussion.

Swans' ruckman Shane Mumford's head-slamming tackle on Ellard in the last quarter is certain to come under scrutiny from the match review panel.

Craig Bird did a solid job tagging Carlton skipper Chris Judd, who finished with 23 touches but had only eight possessions in the first half.

Josh Kennedy and Ryan O'Keefe were busy in midfield and Swans' coach John Longmire praised the efforts of defender Nick Smith.

"They were all over us so they were able to share the load really well," Longmire said of Carlton's spread of contributors.

Ratten said veteran Heath Scotland as well as Murphy were giving the Blues a lot of bite through midfield along with Chris Yarran's drive off half-back.

Carlton host West Coast on Sunday at Etihad Stadium, while the Swans play defending premiers Collingwood on Saturday at ANZ Stadium.

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