The Blues were taken apart by the up-and-coming Giants, conceding eight goals in the third quarter. But for inaccuracy, the Giants could have won by more than 100 points, their dominance reflected in 40 scoring shots to 12, GWS racking up an astonishing 80 inside-50s to 32 for Carlton.

Carlton have now won just one of seven games, with little prospect of improvement in the near future with games over the next month against Geelong, Sydney, Adelaide and Port Adelaide. And the shocking start is already having a clear impact off the field, with a crowd of just 16,676 turning up to witness the thrashing, Carlton's lowest home crowd for nearly 10 years.

The humiliating performance is likely to spark renewed calls for Carlton coach Mick Malthouse to resign. And the game's coaching record-holder could offer little consolation to the club's support base after the defeat, saying the Blues had already given opportunities this season to most of those available on their senior list.

"We've played 35 players, there's not many left ... we'll just keep shuffling them," he said.

Malthouse spent time speaking to his charges behind closed doors after the match – discussing what had happened, and what needed to change, he said.

Malthouse said some of his players still thought of themselves as on the fringe of the team, needlessly fighting for a position in the starting lineup rather than contributing to a group effort.

"In my side they are not fringe players, they are players who deserve a game," he said.

"So in their own mindset they haven't quite come to grips with that you can fall off a player to do something else for a teammate." He said other players were not responsive enough to changing conditions and his advice as they ran on to the ground was to "play the game". "There's a few players that are very robotic, we know that, and their growth is to play the game," he said. Malthouse heaped praise on GWS, saying they had eight players who would be good enough to play midfield for the best teams in the competition.

"I'm in awe of them, the difference in talent today was extraordinary," he said.

"They're an awesome side, and unfortunately we haven't got the manpower to go with them." When asked how he would spend the next week in the lead-up to Carlton's Friday night game against Geelong, Malthouse said "without sleep".

GWS coach Leon Cameron was pleased with the win, the biggest in the club's history. He said the team's defence was terrific and showed they wanted to share the ball. "We've really been working hard over the last two and a bit years on becoming selfless, when you get these young kids you've got to make sure their habits are all about the team," he said.

"I think we've come along in that aspect, particularly last year, that they want to work for each other." He said the Giants had never won three games in a row, so had a way to go to become a top side. They will play Adelaide in Sydney next week.

"We play a very, very good side in Adelaide, who sit probably level-pegging with us on the ladder, they're very well coached and they look like they're a very driven side," he said.

Carlton's miserable start to the year showed at the turnstiles, with only the most loyal Blues supporters showing up at Etihad Stadium A small group of Giants fans struggled to make much noise as their young team kicked goal after goal, but it was a particularly poor showing for the home side.

Just 20,273 people were at Etihad to see the Blues lose to the Brisbane Lions the week before.

But the last time Carlton played to smaller crowd in Melbourne was in 2005, when 16,371 people turned out to watch them play Port Adelaide in round 19 at the MCG.

Malthouse said the poor turnout was a concern for the club. "To me true supporters are supporters through thick and thin," he said.