West Coast have become the latest victims of a resurgent Carlton under interim coach Josh Fraser, going down by 53 points at Marvel Stadium on Saturday.

Most concerning for coach Andrew McQualter though will be the bad habits which crept back into the Eagles’ game and contributed heavily to the disappointing 17.15 (117) to 9.10 (64) defeat.

It was billed as the highly-anticipated battle of the Rising Star favourites in Eagle Willem Duursma and Blue Jagga Smith.

But the pair rarely got anywhere near each other, with Duursma (12 touches and a goal) resigned to playing predominantly as a forward despite spending the first part of his career in the engine room.

This allowed Smith to dominate alongside his fellow Carlton midfielders, racking up 23 disposals, a goal and a career-high nine clearances to likely put his nose in front as they compete for the Ron Evans Medal.

McQualter will undoubtedly pay no attention to that and rather be left bemused by his side’s inability to replicate their form from their previous five games which had them seemingly take a strong stride forward in their rebuild.

One of their biggest concerns to start the season was lacklustre first quarters, something they looked to have overcome until they were ambushed by a fired-up Blues in six-goal to two opening term.

The absence of injured star Tim Kelly was also sorely felt, with Harley Reid (23 disposals, 12 clearances, 10 inside 50s and a goal) playing nearly a lone hand in the midfield.

Meanwhile, Smith had plenty of support in Sam Walsh (33 touches and five clearances), George Hewett (26, four and two goals) and captain Patrick Cripps (31, nine and a goal).

However, the biggest issue for West Coast was the lack of forward connection, with key pillars Jake Waterman and Jobe Shanahan not only well held by inexperienced pair Harry Dean and Wade Derksen but deprived of quality supply by their sloppy teammates.

The issue was that stark that they failed to take a mark inside 50 until the third term, while Carlton were precise with ball in hand to take 20 for the game to only four.

West Coast were expected to be refreshed after a timely mid-season bye.

Instead, they looked as if their minds were still down south in Margaret River sipping on a shiraz rather than ready to be in middle of a hot contest on a cold Melbourne day.

And Carlton punished them for their lack of intensity, choking the visitors’ ball movement with their new-found trademark pressure, while they pounced on a sleepy defence to kick the first three goals of the game within 10 minutes.

West Coast desperately needed a spark, and they got it from their young star in Reid.

The explosive midfielder found himself on the end of a superb centre hit out from Bailey Williams, before he slotted a fantastic goal from 50m out.

Fellow No.1 draftee Duursma kicked the next, but it was a momentary period of dominance for West Coast, who were simply being outplayed by the Blues in a frustrating first quarter for the blue and gold faithful.

At the first break the margin was 27 points, and worse there were alarm bells everywhere for the Eagles who were being smashed at the clearances (16-8), inside 50s (19-10) and marks inside 50 (8-0).

West Coast finally awoke in the second term and courtesy of the Blues’ wastefulness they were still in the game.

They were able to match Carlton’s pressure, and the clearances weren’t as much of an issue as a result, with the contest quickly becoming a battle of transition.

Their biggest problem was that goals were simply too hard to come by, with only one of their five in the first half coming from a set shot and it was after Hough caught Smith holding the ball.

West Coast finally got the game on their terms at the start of the third term and reduced the margin to only 20 points after they kicked the first two goals of the second half.

But Fraser’s Carlton had another gear, and they met the visitors’ challenge with a ferocity with ball in hand that looked as good as any in the competition.

When spearhead Harry McKay was on the end of a transition play from defence to run into an open goal, the Blues as if they’d taken West Coast’s best shot and were still standing strong.

McKay’s third at the start of the last term blew the margin out to 42 points and the result was now beyond doubt.

The game opened up as a result and West Coast were able to finally get some fluency in attack with Waterman looking dangerous but kicking three behinds for the term.

The coaches also began to get a little funky, with Cripps — who battled through a finger injury — and Eagles forward Jack Hutchinson finding themselves battling in the ruck at one stage with Cooper Duff-Tytler out of the game with a calf injury.

West Coast had shown an ability to run out games strongly in the first half of the year but looked devoid of any energy late in this clash and the Blues happily piled on some late pain to sweeten their percentage as they chase what was once the most unlikely finals berths.

SCOREBOARD

CARLTON 6.5, 10.6, 12.11, 17.15 (117)

WEST COAST 2.2, 5.4, 7.5, 9.10 (64)

Goals – CARLTON: T Byrne 3 H McKay 3 F Evans 2 G Hewett 2 M McGovern 2 B Ainsworth M Cottrell P Cripps W Hayward J Smith. WEST COAST: B Hough 2 B Williams 2 B Allan W Duursma M Murdock H Reid J Shanahan.

Best – CARLTON: G Hewett S Walsh H Dean J Smith P Cripps L Cowan T Byrne. WEST COAST: H Reid J Graham B Williams R Bazzo L Baker.

Injuries - WEST COAST: C Duff-Tytler (calf).

Umpires: N Brown E Tee M Rodger H Birch. Crowd: TBC at Marvel Stadium.