Marc Murphy calls it Carlton's "never again" moment.
As much as it hurt the Blues captain to watch on helplessly, he said their round 13 AFL shocker against Fremantle was a major wake-up call for the developing team.
Murphy was recovering from a foot injury and weighing up his future when the Dockers kept Carlton scoreless in the first half.
The Blues have been solid either side of that shocker, with competitive losses to Geelong, Sydney, Collingwood and Port Adelaide.
But the Fremantle match is a glaring black mark.
Murphy, who confirmed on Monday that he has re-signed with Carlton for two years, said the Blues learned a painful lesson against the Dockers.
"Although you don't like to see that sort of performance, it hit the group pretty hard and what it means to play for Carlton,"' he said.
"When you wear that jumper, you can't play like that.
"It was a bit of a defining moment for a few of our guys, who hadn't played a lot of footy here yet, to understand that you can't dish that up."
Murphy's new deal follows the decision by young gun Charlie Curnow to also commit to the Blues with a four-year contract extension.
Curnow and midfielder Patrick Cripps are the centre of Carlton's future.
"All our fans are pretty excited about Cripps and the emergence of Charlie Curnow, taking hangers," Murphy said.
"It can turn pretty quick in football."
The Blues remain confident that Cripps will also re-sign soon.
"We're in discussions with Patrick's management at the moment and they're heading in the right direction," Blues football manager Andrew McKay told SEN.
"We're still not sure how long that's going to be, but Patrick has indicated to us he's keen to stay."
Murphy helped chair Kade Simpson off on Saturday after his 300th game and said the milestone helped reassure him he made the right decision in staying at Carlton.
The Blues captain told the club of his decision last week, but it was kept secret so all the limelight was on Simpson's big day.
"The weekend was a huge moment for the football club," Murphy said.
"When you share in moments like that, with someone who's played such great football for the club and been so loyal and passionate, I certainly knew I'd made the right call to stay."
