CARLTON and Collingwood could hardly have produced more different performances on the final day of round 16.

The Blues were beaten by the resurgent Western Bulldogs at Etihad Stadium, while the Magpies thrashed North Melbourne by 117 points at the MCG.

Nevertheless, Carlton midfielder Marc Murphy says the mood in the Blues' camp remains upbeat ahead of Saturday's blockbuster clash against the reigning premiers at the home of footy.

"We played some good footy against Collingwood last time and went within two points of Geelong, so we've got confidence among ourselves that we can match it with the top sides," Murphy said at Visy Park on Monday morning.

"I don't think many people are going to give us much of a chance to take (Collingwood) down.

"They're playing some pretty good footy, the Pies, so we've got a few areas of our game that we really need to work on this week.

"We need to freshen up and then come with an attitude to play some really hard, contested footy on Saturday afternoon.

"I think you'll see a fair bit of fight from the guys this week."

Brett Ratten's men seemed to be cruising against the Bulldogs on Sunday evening when they led by 21 points early in the second quarter.

But they conceded the next seven goals and were eventually beaten by 27 points.

"I thought we were winning the ball in the middle," Murphy said. "It was probably our (lack of) forward 50 pressure that was letting us down a little bit.

"Those sort of coast-to-coast goals really cost us from halfway through the second quarter."

Making matters worse for the Blues, star forward Jarrad Waite had to be subbed out of the game after suffering groin soreness.

He had scans on the injury at Victoria House on Monday morning and looks certain to miss the big clash with the Magpies.

"We really need to get him up and going before the finals and get some consistency in his footy," Murphy said.

Carlton's loss to the Dogs was its 10th defeat at Etihad Stadium in its past 17 matches there.

"I think we played some pretty poor footy against West Coast at Etihad and we have played a lot of our good footy at the MCG," Murphy explained.

"I can't really put it down to anything in particular. I think we obviously enjoy playing footy at the 'G and we've got another opportunity against Collingwood there, so we look forward to that."

When the Blues last played Collingwood, in round three, they lost by 28 points.

On that night, they were undone by a poor second term, in which the Magpies booted five goals to one.

"It was probably those 20 minutes in the second quarter that cost us," Murphy recalled.

"They got away from us and we couldn't bridge that gap of four goals. We take a little bit out of that. I think we've come a long way since that game.

"If we bring that contested footy and our tackling pressure, and really work hard in the clearances, I think we'll go a long way to giving it a real crack."