Granted, the Blues played an inexperienced side against West Coast in Mandurah on Friday and lost by 31 points.

There was no Lachie Henderson or Troy Menzel in Western Australia, both of whom know where the goals are, and Chris Yarran, who kicked 21 goals last year played in defence.

But for 30 entries into their attacking 50, they scored six goals and five behinds.

The Eagles, with Josh Kennedy and Mark LeCras kicking multiple goals, booted 10 goals, 15 points from their 55 journeys into the forward line.

Carlton assistant coach Rob Wiley said the midfield had to take some responsibility, but they clearly had a lot of work to do before the start of the season proper.

"We've got a lot of work still to go," he said. "There is no doubting that.

"There were glimpses and I think some of the young kids showed some patches. But, overall, West Coast played some pretty good football and we're just lacking in some areas.

"We didn't score, so obviously there's a bit of a concern. Our three talls didn't work together. We probably didn't win enough ball through the midfield. That doesn't help.

"But this period is about experimenting and, admittedly, we have some good footballers coming back in two week's time [against Collingwood in Bendigo on March 15].

"We do have to win more football, but we also have to score when we get those opportunities."

Since Brendan Fevola left the Blues at the end of the 2009 season, Carlton have had four players lead goal scoring.

Waite (last year), Garlett (2013) and Eddie Betts (2012 and 2010) are playing with other clubs and Andrew Walker (2011) has a knee injury and will miss the start of the season. Henderson appears to be the key to the Blues' success.

He kicked 28 goals last season and 26 in 2013. But where is he going to get assistance from?

Former Western Bulldogs Liam Jones had a forgettable start for the Blues, kicking one goal (soccered from the square) from his five possessions.

Matthew Watson, who kicked six in an intra-club match last week, was scoreless from two possessions.

Levi Casboult and Tom Bell looked likely at times, but Simon White's 16 touches, six marks and a goal were encouraging.

If Kristian Jaksch, drafted from Greater Western Sydney, can continue the form he showed against the Eagles, where he played a decent game as a key defender (11 touches, five marks), White may be able to spend more time in attack.

"[Jaksch's] getting better and better week by week, playing against some of their really good players," Wiley said.

"Jaksch played against Kennedy [four goals, including a nine-pointer]. That's a great learning curve for him. We were rapt with what he showed.

"It's about getting players fit enough for round one. Our policy was always that some would play three games and some would play two.

"You will definitely see a different side in two weeks [against the Magpies], but we just have to play better as a team.

"The players are up for that challenge. It was a young team today and travelling for the first time. There was a lot of new experiences for guys today and we'll go away better for it."

Carlton may welcome back as many as 10 experienced players for their Challenge game against the Pies.