For the first quarter and a half it was the horrible West Coast of old. That’s all Carlton needed to set up a comfortable 34-point win.

The defeat might be the least of the Eagles’ worries though, after un-contracted co-captain Oscar Allen was taken from the field in the last term with an injury concern.

Heading into the clash the Blues had won the past five meetings between the two sides by an average of 76 points

And when they had kicked 10 of the first 11 goals to lead by 57 points early in the second term, the visitors looked well on their way to increasing the average.

West Coast managed to claw it back in a strong second half, but the damage had well and truly been done with the 12.14 (86) to 7.10 (52) loss at Optus Stadium on Sunday leaving the Eagles with a 1-13 record heading into the bye.

As a proud Eagles fought out the contest, there was an eerie silence around the stadium when midway through the term Allen went down at half-forward just running back to goal with what appeared to be a leg concern.

Allen was instantly taken down to the rooms and there were instant fears for the spearhead’s season, with West Coast already without last year’s leading goalkicker Jake Waterman for the rest of the year because of a shoulder injury.

Carlton set up the victory in a dominant first half, where they simply bullied a hapless Eagles who didn’t look as if they were ready for the intensity of the contest or the wet conditions.

The Eagles were indecisive and lacked an intensity needed in the contest to match the Blues who looked a class above from the first possession.

George Hewett relished the wet conditions, finishing with 35 disposals and seven clearances, while late inclusion Jaxon Binns did his chances of remaining in the team no harm with 26 touches.

In an indictment on several senior Eagles, debutant Tom McCarthy was the West Coast’s best, racking up 31 touches – the most of any West Coast player this season and a club record for most on debut - from half-back, just weeks after joining the club.

No.1 draftee Harley Reid (28 disposals and five clearances) also showcased his power and skill that took the AFL world by storm last year but may be left to sweat on a stray elbow in the second term to Carlton’s Lachie Fogarty.

It looked like the Eagles of old in the first 15 minutes as Carlton simply dominated the contest as if it was a training drill.

The Blues had four goals on the board before some fans had even found their seats and a sense of Déjà vu would’ve been creeping in to everyone donning the blue and gold in the stadium.

Such was the pressure early that Allen had to go back as the spare in defence to try to stem the flow of scoring.

The Eagles were desperately in need of a settler, and they found it through McCarthy who set up Bailey Williams for their first goal.

It was a momentary bit of relief for West Coast, who couldn’t halt the surge from the Blues who took advantage of what appeared to be a disorganised Eagles’ defence.

Fogarty was the chief destroyer, equalling his career-best haul of three goals by quarter time as Carlton led by 39 points.

West Coast coach Andrew McQualter bluntly summed it up at quarter time when he said they were “pathetic in the contest”.

The Blues defied the adverse conditions to transfer the ball from defence to attack with ease and West Coast were powerless to stop it.

The Eagles managed to stem the flow in the second term as the Blues lost star spearhead Charlie Curnow to calf tightness.

McQualter threw Liam Baker into the middle to try to win some contests, while wingman Jayden Hunt was subbed out early in the third term after collecting only two touches, with Clay Hall introduced.

The pace of Tyrell Dewar – who finished with a career-high 27 touches - on the wing and a lift in the tough stuff allowed West Coast to get the contest going their way but the damage had well and truly been done.

Whether Carlton stopped or the Eagles lifted, the game became more of a grind rather than the one-sided, free-flowing contest of the first half.

The Blues struggled to put together fluent play, while the Eagles put away the run-and-carry style and began to play to the conditions by taking territory at all costs.

Williams became a threat up forward, kicking a career-high three goals while in the middle of the ground veterans Baker and Jack Graham simply ground away.

SCOREBOARD

CARLTON 7.4, 10.8, 11.11, 12.14 (86)

WEST COAST 1.1, 3.4, 5.7, 7.10 (52)

Goals – CARLTON: L Fogarty 3 M McGovern 3 Z Williams 2 A Cincotta C Curnow C Durdin T De Koning. WEST COAST: B Williams 3 T Brockman J Cripps E Hewett J Williams.

Best – CARTLON: G Hewett A Cerra T De Koning A Cincotta J Binns J Weitering. WEST COAST: T McCarthy H Reid T Dewar J Graham L Baker B Williams.

Injuries – CARLTON: C Curnow (calf) H O’Keefe (hamstring). WEST COAST: O Allen (leg) H Edwards (shoulder/hamstring).

Umpires: R O’Gorman J Howard A Whetton A Gianfagna. Crowd: 43,803 at Optus Stadium.