CHRIS Judd leads Carlton into battle against his old club tonight, but the Blues need their young rucks to improve on last week's effort to lift their chance of winning in hostile territory.

Against Adelaide last Saturday, Cameron Cloke and Matthew Kreuzer were soundly beaten by Jonathon Griffin and Kurt Tippett — the Crows' ruckmen winning a total of 47 hitouts to 17.

Broken down further, the statistics paint a stark picture: the Crows capitalised on 17 of their 47 hitouts, while the Blues took advantage at ground level of only one of their 17 hitouts.

Carlton coach Brett Ratten this week conceded his side was smashed in hitouts and hitouts to advantage and said the Crows' follow-up work was a significant factor in the 30-point loss. "The clearances got away from us in the last quarter … Griffin got his hands on the ball first and really set them up," he said. "Whether (Dean) Cox plays (tonight) or not, we'll have to do something about it."

Cox, a three-time All-Australian ruckman and premiership player, aggravated a foot injury last week against the Western Bulldogs but has been named in the Eagles' team.

The 26-year-old has developed into the best ruckman in the competition and his young opponents, according to former Bulldogs ruckman Luke Darcy, could learn a lot from him.

"Kreuzer is going to be a great player, he's showing the signs already," Darcy said.

"He's a talented kid and in an ideal world it would be fantastic if he was able to sit in behind a really top-line ruckman, like Cox or (Port Adelaide's) Brendon Lade.

"It would make his path a bit easier and be ideal for his development."

Unfortunately, the Blues don't have any All-Australian ruckmen to teach him the ropes, so it's up to Kreuzer, who turns 19 this month, to learn on the job.

"At his age, to be playing the amount of minutes he is in the ruck (and) the amount of minutes he's spending on the ground, he's going really well," Darcy said. "He works hard at ground level and competes well at the centre-square bounce.

"In five or six years, he'll be getting to where (the club) want him to be, but he's already a long way ahead of most people his age."

Cloke, who transferred to Carlton last year after 21 games with Collingwood, has already played more senior football than half of the players on Carlton's list.

"He's shown some improvement, but needs to do more and consistently across four quarters," Darcy said.

"He's not an elite tall or an outstanding around-the-ground player, but I love his aggression and maybe that's something he could build on."

In Griffin, who made his debut last year, and Tippet, who played his first game this year, the Crows have found a ruck duo that could serve the club well into the future.

Ratten, who said the Blues would make sure Judd has "a good return to Perth" tonight, will be hoping the future is just as bright for Kreuzer and Cloke.