A COSTLY lack of composure.

For the third straight week, Carlton set the game up how it wanted and had the game on its boot, only to fall narrowly in the final minutes during a back-and-forth affair with the Western Bulldogs.

The Blues continued to show the capabilities of their best footy, particularly in an efficient first half, but were unable to complete key moments late as the Bulldogs came away with an eight-point victory.

Speaking to media post-match, here's what AFL Senior Coach Michael Voss had to say.

On how the game got away:

"We lacked composure through different times of the game. Right now, our best has been pretty good. But we seem to be straying from us more than we’d like. That’s giving pockets or windows for opposition to walk through, we’re inviting them into the game.

"The second quarter, we give two defensive-50 stoppage goals against, the detail of that and being able to stick to that and our method and how we want to defend that part of the ground. The third quarter, enabling their marks and getting territory really easy, we weren’t able to take that off them. Through the third quarter, our inside-50 entries were off and we fuelled their game and invited them back in. Then the last quarter, to not have the composure - we gave away eight free kicks. We’ve just got to get better.

"The consistency of what we need to be able to play at is clearly not where we want it. We’re really confident in the manner we play - I can spend a lot of time on the numbers, but it’s not going to matter. The numbers are okay, but it’s the small moments that is enabling an opposition to get back in the game. It’s been on our boot, but we haven’t been able to finish the deal. We’re going to have to own that."

On a four-goal-to-eight second half:

"We’ve got to find a way through that. We’ll go back and have a look at it. Some people will say ‘it’s how you’re running out games’, and maybe that’s part of it and should factor that in. Because if we had some better moments to control the ball, we would’ve found ourselves on a different side of the ledger. That’s something we’ll have to have a look at.

"A lot of that has been inefficiency. Today, ultimately the Bulldogs were able to step up their game and own the ball a bit more. The last quarter we weren’t able to finish the way we wanted to. We’ll keep looking for those moments and look to get better. A simple thing like giving away eight free kicks, that’s not running capacity - that’s showing care in the contest.

"You can get frustrated by it, but they’re probably there. If we don’t accept it, we won’t get better."

On improved efficiency going forward, only to drop away:

"We did tonight, but as we went across the night it dropped off. It’s the consistency of reinforcing the way we want to be able to play. We had some great moments, and moments we’d like back. It’s glaring what we need to get better at.

"What we’re really conscious of is ensuring that while we’re getting better at that, we hold onto some of the other parts of the game that are holding up okay. Our contest work, our clearance work has been really effective, how we’ve defended the ground has generally been pretty good. It’s about being able to put those fundamentals down strong, but also in the background just keep going to work on the things we need to get better at."

On how to 'teach composure':

"Repetition, trust in roles, consistency in how you play, staying connected to each other - that’s why we train. It’s an area we need to get better, and it’s up to me to make sure we do something about it.

"We’ve progressively seen it improve from the first week, but again, you don’t always get it on your terms. Being able to play you for longer and the attention to detail, be better around contest at different times, knowing how to use the ball, defending critical moments - it’s why the game is really demanding, it includes all phases."

On Jack Silvagni, Lewis Young and Brodie Kemp's games:

"That speaks that there’s a lot of parts that are going well, there are individuals that are going well. Jacob with the role he had on Darcy, he persisted with that. There are plenty of parts and individuals to sit here and acknowledge, and we will highlight and reinforce those.

"But as we know, it takes a squad and a team to get the job done, and we need to do it more often. We’re falling short right now. That’s what we need to accept to be able to get better."

On the need for a response:

"For us and for me, in terms of the context of the season, there’s plenty of runway. We’ve also got the feedback that we’ve got to get better. We’ve got some real parts of our game that are a bit more obvious than others. That’s what we’ll do.

"When you watch us play and see the better parts of our games and how we’re able to play that, it’s worth persisting with. But the message will be pretty simple: make sure we’re really clear on our roles, make sure we’re playing us and we need to put composure in the game."

On looking at a different approach:

"One of the questions you get through these periods of time is ‘what do you need to change?’. The hardest part I find is what you need to continue to reinforce, and keep doing and keep making consistent. The more change you make, it doesn’t necessarily work out great.

"But at the same time, you’ve got to look for adaptations and how you grow your game, where you can find the small bits of difference that can help us move forward. We’ll do that, we’ll flip every rock we possibly can, but it won’t come without a consistent message.

"There’s enough there to suggest we’ve got something to build on, but we’ve got a few things to get after. That part I find a bit simpler."