Coach Brett Ratten has blasted his Blues for getting too cute with the ball and lacking the appetite for hard work after Carlton's 36-point AFL loss to West Coast.

It was only their third defeat of the year but it cost the Blues third spot on the ladder, dropping to fourth with nine-and-a-half wins from 13 matches.

Asked if it was the loss Carlton had to have after four consecutive wins, Ratten said: "Yeah, probably.

"You talk about momentum and things in a season. It was never going to go perfectly to the script."

The Eagles won 15.13 (103) to 10.7 (67) at Etihad Stadium on Sunday, as the visitors capitalised on Carlton's under-sized defence to grab 23 contested marks to the Blues' 11.

Michael Jamison suffered a knock to the left knee in the first quarter and was subbed off shortly before halftime.

But losing his key defender was only part of the reason why the Blues were so soundly beaten, said Ratten, who was fuming over the number of kicks which failed to hit targets.

"They outplayed us. They outworked us today, all over the ground.

"We just probably played too cute, gave them some confidence and then we couldn't get anything back.

"Our appetite might have been down a fraction today. I don't know (why).

"We over-finessed with the ball and they were probably really hungry.

"Today we were off our game especially early. Maybe not kicking along the ground (would help)."

Jeff Garlett kicked three goals while Heath Scotland, Marc Murphy and Bryce Gibbs were among Carlton's better performers.

Skipper Chris Judd had only four kicks and 13 handballs as Eagles' tagger Scott Selwood claimed a major scalp.

"They did a pretty good job to, I suppose, limit his influence," Ratten said.

Trailing by 28 points at halftime, the Blues kicked the first four goals of the second half to narrow the gap to four points.

But the Eagles responded with four of the next five goals to hold a 22-point buffer at three-quarter time, and the Blues were outscored three goals to one in the final term.

It was a day of celebration for West Coast who claimed their first win over a top-four side this season.

"The players have grown a lot in belief this year. There's no doubt about that and today would reinforce that," Eagles' coach John Worsfold said.

"Our aim is to build a team that can challenge for a premiership, and there's certain things we've got to continue to work on and make happen to achieve that.

"But I think what people have seen so far is that there is a pathway that we believe in and we're heading down it."

Carlton face Richmond at the MCG on Saturday, with Ratten able to get key forward Jarrad Waite and midfielder Mitch Robinson back from injury.

"It will be good to get another focal point in Jarrad back up there. He has been a great target for us," Ratten said.

Losing Jamison for possibly a month will test the backline, although 189cm defender Jeremy Laider is a possible inclusion for next week.

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