Carlton coach Mick Malthouse has revealed his players held their own meeting after their AFL embarrassment against Essendon.

The Blues are in big trouble after the Bombers mauled them by 81 points at the MCG on Sunday night, leaving them in a 0-3 hole.

Malthouse says he’s praying the performance against Essendon is a one-off, adding that he didn’t see it coming.

The only positive for the Blues coach is they have a quick turnaround before Saturday’s match against Melbourne, who are also winless.

As Malthouse fronted the media, his players were conducting their own post-mortem examination of a horrible game.

“They will come out of that meeting and say they need to assess where they’re at as footballers and do something about it,” he said.

“In their mind, they couldn’t walk out without having a heart-to-heart.

“I’d be bitterly disappointed if they hadn’t done that.”

Malthouse added that no Carlton player could be satisfied with his performance against Essendon.

“Some players may have been satisfied with their effort,” he said.

“Very few will be satisfied that they gave 100 per cent for 100 per cent of the night.”

Essendon’s domination was similar to Friday night, when Hawthorn belted Fremantle by 58 points in the grand final rematch.

Like the start to round three, the biggest surprise was that the game was such a mismatch.

Essendon and Carlton are the fiercest of rivals and usually have tight contests.

But the Bombers kicked 6.3 to 0.3 in the first term to set the tone of the match.

After Carlton rallied at the start of the third term, Essendon killed off the challenge with a five-goal surge.