CARLTON ruckman Shaun Hampson admits the Blues were guilty of complacency in Sunday's win over lowly Greater Western Sydney at Etihad Stadium.

Carlton, who left out several stars including captain Chris Judd, ended up winning by 67 points, but were only 10 points clear at the main break.

Hampson says it took some strong words from coach Brett Ratten at half-time to rouse them into top gear.

"We weren't happy at all with our first half," Hampson said on Monday.

"I think we got a bit complacent.

"We got a bake at half-time from the coach.

"We came out and started cracking in and playing the sort of footy we trained to play."

The Blues were well beaten in the clearances and Hampson said the Giants were remarkably physical and good in close for a team stacked with teenagers.

He said Carlton had fallen into the trap early in the game of expecting less than total commitment would be enough to beat such youthful opposition.

"It's quite easy to get caught in that loop when you're playing good footy and you come up against a young side like that," he said.

"You can just take the foot off the pedal five per cent and that's all it takes.

"If you do that, you give teams like that half a chance.

"Once we started cracking in like we were supposed to do, we turned it around."

The Blues should be significantly stronger against St Kilda next Monday night, with Judd, Jarrad Waite, Chris Yarran and Ed Curnow all expected to return.