CARLTON coach Brett Ratten admitted to being bewildered by an umpiring decision to penalise Jarrad Waite in the last quarter, resulting in a double-goal to Adelaide, but will not make a formal complaint.

Waite was penalised by umpire Ray Chamberlain for punching the ball into the crowd after it had been kicked through for a goal by Bernie Vince, as it was judged to have caused a delay in the play. The ball was then given to Richard Douglas at the top of the goal square for another shot at close range.

"It's a big penalty that one," Ratten said. "We had one last week where a bloke (Melbourne's Matthew Whelan) got reported and it got given — I don't see the penalty being the same when you punch the ball or you punch someone in the face so that did bewilder me, I thought that maybe (giving the free) in the middle of the ground might have been a fair result."

But Ratten said while he was puzzled by the decision he did not intend to take it up with umpires' boss Jeff Gieschen during the week.

"I think the umpires have got a tough job each week and they call it as they see it and you get the good with the bad … everyone makes mistakes so I won't be ringing up Jeff over petty little things that happen in the game," he said.

Two first-half injuries may have changed Carlton's fortunes in its 30-point loss to the Crows at the MCG yesterday. The Blues led by 16 points at quarter-time but lost defender Bret Thornton to a knee injury late in the first term and then young forward Adam Hartlett came off the ground with a hamstring injury early in the second term.

Despite having just two men left on the interchange bench, the Blues held on for the rest of the second quarter, going into half-time with a 10-point lead.

But those early casualties put the pressure on the young side going into the second half, Ratten said.

"I think if you lose a player in the first half your winning chances go down by around 17%. We lost two, so I don't know what that percentage (would be), but it does have an impact there, but that's the way footy is," Ratten said.

The Crows made the most of their opportunities, turning the game around in the third quarter by kicking six goals to Carlton's two.

Ratten said that Thornton's injury was a grade one strain to his medial ligament, which club doctors thought could keep him on the sidelines for up to six weeks.

While the extent Hartlett's injury is yet to be assessed, it does not bode well for the 20-year-old, who has a history of hamstring problems.

Ratten was cautious not to weigh into the debate raised by Richmond coach Terry Wallace a few weeks ago when he suggested the clubs should be granted emergencies to replace injured players throughout the game, but did say his team's plight would add some extra currency to that discussion.

"Do we call for the extra interchange? … I'm not calling for it but I'm just saying that it is interesting when it does happen in the first half of the game whether maybe that's something to look at," Ratten said.

Crows coach Neil Craig said the win, which puts his side safely within the eight with four wins, was important given it was achieved at the MCG. "We don't get to play here very often — a lot of our players have never played here — so to come here and experience a tough game of footy and to come out victorious is really important," Craig said.

Adelaide lost defender Ben Rutten with a corked buttock, in the first half, but he could be OK to play against North Melbourne next week.