Carlton's appalling AFL season is set to plumb new depths of crisis, with the Friday night stage likely casting a harsh light on their woes.
GWS routed the Blues 19.21 (135) to 9.3 (57) in Saturday's twilight match at Etihad Stadium.
The 78-point margin is easily a record for the rapidly-emerging Giants since they joined the league in 2012, beating last season's 64-point win over Melbourne.
Not only are Carlton mired at the bottom of the ladder with just one win from seven matches, but their fans are dropping off them in droves.
Only 16,676 fans came to Saturday's game after 20,273 watched the upset loss last weekend to Brisbane.
And now the Blues are in the high-profile Friday night slot for the next two weekends, against Geelong at Etihad Stadium and then Sydney at the SCG.
Unless coach Mick Malthouse can somehow turn around his team's form in a hurry, the pressure will ramp up even further in the coming fortnight.
"I don't do the draw and when we play, we play," Malthouse said.
"I've got to be very frank about this - I can't go to bed at night thinking how many people are going to turn up.
"I've got enough on my plate to worry about getting the side up and picking the right side and having a competitive team, which we weren't today.
"Of course it (the low crowd) is a concern for the football club, but surely my role is to get the side into a position of being competitive."
Following the Anzac Day win over St Kilda, Carlton did not give a yelp against Collingwood and were upset by Brisbane before Saturday's latest misery.
Malthouse said their biggest issue this time was not their own game, but how well the Giants played.
The thrashing leaves GWS entrenched in the top eight with a 5-2 record.
Giants onballer Stephen Coniglio was best afield, ruckman Shane Mumford starred again and Jeremy Cameron kicked five goals.
"The difference in talent today was extraordinary," Malthouse said.
"They're an awesome side and unfortunately we haven't got the manpower to go with them.
"It's as simple as that - we got thrashed, totally."
GWS dominated the inside 50s by an extraordinary 78-32 and the only consolation for the Blues is the Giants did not kick straight at goal.
"They could have totally destroyed us," Malthouse noted.
He added the key for the Blues now is to maintain unity.
"The moment we fragment at a football team level - in other words the players and the coaches - if there's a fragmentation in that, the whole lot goes down," he said.
"There's certainly a great respect for one another, but is there a unity in regard to the way we're playing?
"No ... when you start (with) 1-6, there can be a tendency to go 'I have to play well to keep a game'.
"Some of those things enter into it, but not nearly as bad as I've seen sides do."
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