A SHATTERED Christian Petracca says Melbourne’s two-point loss to Fremantle at the MCG on Saturday was quite simply “the one that got away”.

Speaking shortly after the game, Petracca said Melbourne’s third quarter, when it kicked just three behinds to Fremantle’s 7.4 cost it a victory.  

“We responded really well in the fourth quarter, but we shouldn’t have even been in that position – we needed to be a bit more composed in the third quarter,” he told Melbourne TV.

“Credit to Freo, their pressure was pretty good, but we just over handballed a bit and we just needed to find a mark and relax a bit and really take our time.

“I thought we used the ball pretty well and made the most of our chances, but that’s footy.”

Petracca said Melbourne felt confident at half-time, when it was up by 21 points, but was adamant the team didn’t take Fremantle lightly from that point.

“We started again at zero all – that’s how we start every second half,” he said.

“We wanted to keep doing what we were doing in the first half, but not every game is going to be perfect – there are going to be lapses and rollercoasters and we’ve just got to ride that.

“We’ve just got to be more composed.”

Although Melbourne trailed by 22 points at three quarter-time, Petracca said his team went into the final term positively – and it showed on the scoreboard when Jack Watts and Jake Spencer kicked truly in the opening two minutes.

But, in the wash-up, Melbourne’s 6.4 to 3.2 final term wasn’t enough to get the four points.

Petracca, who kicked a fine goal in the second quarter, said he was reasonably happy with his game.

“I thought I did all right. You don’t really know too much when you’re out there, but I thought I attacked the ball well and marked pretty well,” he said.

“But like everyone, there was a bit of doubt at times when you ‘should’ve or could’ve [done something]’, but overall I thought I did OK.

“I thought I couldn’t tackled a bit better as well.”