CO-CAPTAIN Jack Grimes says the players were “shell-shocked” following his side’s 79-point loss to Port Adelaide at the MCG on Easter Sunday.

Speaking following the season opener, Grimes said the poor performance was completely unexpected.

“I didn’t see it coming,” he said.

“The consistency that we’ve seen in our training over the summer … we’ve taken our training to a new level.

“I, along with a lot of others, expected to see the reflection out on the field, and we just didn’t get it.”

Grimes acknowledged that the Demons “let the supporters down most of all”.

“We’re frustrated and I know that the supporters are frustrated – we’re a frustrated club at the moment, but we’re not going to start blaming individuals to make us fracture,” he said.

“There are probably a lot of guys who have to have a good hard look at themselves, but we’ll stick together through it – that’s what we do know we’re doing.”

The Demons were booed at several periods throughout the match by their own supporters, and Grimes said it was something that was warranted, even though he blocked out the noise.

“Honestly, when you’re out there, you don’t take much notice of it,” he said.

“The crowd makes a lot of noise, and you’re trying to focus on what you’re trying to do.

“Walking off the ground, when you hear some of the stuff, I think ‘fair enough’.

“It wasn’t good enough, what we dished up today (Sunday) and I’d be frustrated too, as a Melbourne supporter.”

As for dealing with the loss, Grimes said the players had to move on quickly.

“You can’t dwell on things like that and you can’t let it get to you, because in six days’ time, we’re playing the Bombers here on Saturday night,” he said.

“We’ve got to move on from a loss like this pretty quick, because if you don’t, it’ll drag on to next week and the week after.

“As of tomorrow (Monday), we’ve moved on.”