CARLTON coach Brett Ratten says the Blues were destined for defeat after Hawthorn beat his players for hardness at the contest on Sunday at Etihad Stadium.

Ratten believed the 50-point loss came as a result of the Hawks' determination to win the "big plays" and put their bodies on the line.

He also refused to attribute injuries to Chris Johnson, Simon White and Chris Yarran as reasons why the Blues were beaten, but conceded his players were tired after a tough two weeks.

"I thought [the injuries] hurt us physically considering we lost a few last week as well, whether that's just from one week to the next, the game loads of players increased enormously," he said.

"I thought it was sometimes the 50-50 big decisions, big plays in the game where I thought we were shown up ... they won two thirds of those defining moments.

"They were a lot harder than us. They really hunted us physically, just always into their opponents, whether it was their backs on our forwards or their forwards on our backs."

Ratten said he didn't think his players were mentally struggling to claim games they were favoured to win and was more concerned about their physical contribution.

"It's sometimes easier for groups to play when they have the 'bring the one-wood and swing as hard as they can' mentality," he said.

"We've spoken about it and our group knows the key indicators that have helped us get to where we are and what's required.

"It's a hard one to put down. I thought some of our efforts in the game weren't up to scratch."

He identified Lachie Henderson's three-goal game, Sam Jacobs' 25 hit-out performance and Aaron Joseph's restrictive job on Cyril Rioli as highlights.

He was also philosophical when asked about Setanta O'hAilpin's decision to play on after marking at the end of the third quarter; a judgement that cost the Blues a goal and momentum. 

"What can you do? You can't turn the clock back and say, 'go to the top of the goal square and kick the goal'," he said.

"I think it was a lesson learned. He had one in the first quarter as well where he took a mark and handballed to someone in the goal square and we kicked a point.

"He's probably focused on how many assists he can get as well as kicking goals.

"[But], if you can kick the goal, kick the goal. It's pretty much the general rule."