Carlton coach Mick Malthouse says a lot of work is needed after the loss to Richmond Lachie Henderson after the final siren. Blues coach Mick Malthouse lays down the law. CARLTON coach Mick Malthouse admits he is wrestling with the Blues defence-attack balance after only one game. The Blues were down by as much as 42 points 11 minutes into the third quarter, but threw caution to the wind in the second half to fall five points short of an incredible comeback. Malthouse said he made the call to abandon his conservative approach in a bid to pinch the game, which only failed when Chris Yarran missed too good chances in front of goal in the dying minutes. I learned a lot, they'll probably learn a lot. Just the methodology, the things you can do that work and things that don't work and you've got to start to get the balance right," Malthouse said. By working one way you do rob yourself of some defensive play and we took that gamble so I'm not too sure where I actually sit with that. It got us back in the game, but I'm not 100 per cent sure you can keep having shootouts with sides. Nonetheless I guess it was enough to spook Richmond a bit. Carlton face a daunting start to the season, with Collingwood, Geelong, West Coast (away) and Adelaide to come in the next month, but Malthouse strongly rejected suggestions he needed to "pick players up." What, do you think they're walking around with their head down? They've come back and had a crack," he said. This is one round. It's Round 1 of a 22-week season. They're not babies, they don't need to be cuddled and caressed and told how unlucky they are. We know we got beaten by a better side and we know we've got a lot of work to do to make us more competitive. But this is not a kindergarten. These are grown men. Malthouse criticised the Blues" use of the interchange, claiming he was unhappy with only 106 rotations compared to Richmond's 133. But that was the extent of his irritation with his side's first loss to the Tigers since 2008. "There's enough there," he said. "I said to the playing group, "There's no witch-hunt in the rooms tonight." It is simply that we need to look at why our planning didn't work and why we were able to get back in the game. Malthouse said Marc Murphy and Chris Judd would continue to get better after limited preparation and said Bryce Gibbs would get more confidence in his game.