WHEN it comes to leadership, Carlton has been playing short-handed all season.  

Losing the outstanding Sam Docherty to an ACL tear in the first drill of the first pre-season training session was bad enough. Having skipper Marc Murphy out with a foot injury for the last few weeks made it much worse.

The end result is a young team lacking in direction, and it was never more obvious than at Etihad Stadium on Saturday, when the Blues failed to kick a goal and Fremantle kicked 12 of them to lead by 70 points at half-time.

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Only in the comfort of the dressing room were the Blues able to refocus and reset. 

Blues coach Brendon Bolton could only look on wistfully. While his young charges floundered, Fremantle had veteran leaders Nat Fyfe, David Mundy, Lachie Neale and Aaron Sandilands who sniffed an opportunity and took charge.

"Our response was too slow," he said after the 57-point defeat, which, if there was a bright side for the Blues, wasn't the massive 100-point-plus loss that appeared to be on the cards at one stage.

"We're disappointed and we will go away and ask questions a group about what was in the mindset early."

Bolton said that some of what is required in games is not yet instinctive. The proverbial switch can't be flicked because, well, who with an old head is out there to do it? 

"It's a work in progress. They're significant outs," he said of not having Murphy and Docherty at his disposal.

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But there was plenty to throw at his players at half-time and again at the significant post-game review.

"It was also an opportunity to learn how to lead and that's an opportunity and part of the review. When they did get a jump on, what did you do and why. And what could you do next time? That's part of the growth and particularly for the first to third-year players. We can't worry about the blokes who are injured."

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He was quick to say that the result was not because of effort.

"It's a really easy sweeping statement to make and can become a headline, but I don't think any players, particularly young players go out there not to try and get beaten," Bolton said.

"To learn to how to play consistently at a high, high level just doesn't happen. We're too inconsistent. We're not happy about it and we'll work our way through it, but it's a learned behaviour." 

Bolton said he wasn't aware that Carlton supporters jeered the team from the ground at half-time.

"Hopefully there was a change in that response after the game because it could have easily been worse than that. It wasn't perfect, but they held up in the second half," he said.

"Hopefully our supporters can see that."