In one of the more curious AFL matches in recent times – Melbourne did not kick its first goal until the third quarter, yet still gave Adelaide a scare late in the game – Bailey said his team did not confront Adelaide’s midfield zone well.
“It had some really frustrating parts of the game,” he said post-match, although he acknowledged his team’s overall effort.
“In the second quarter we turned the ball over with our handball. The best way to get through the zone is to kick through it, rather than handball it. Both teams turned it over with the handball, so it just kept more handball going, which was disappointing.
“But to the guys’ credit, I thought our players stuck at it for the whole game – there was some momentum coming in the last quarter. We had a couple of opportunities to kick goals.”
Bailey said any red and blue follower would’ve had their patience tested by the style of play.
“If I was a Melbourne member and supporter [here] today, the handball would’ve disappointed [me]. It disappointed the players and us too, because we couldn't get through the zone with handball,” he said.
Although Melbourne had just two fewer scoring shots than Adelaide, the second-year senior coach said it was his team's conversion – rather than the low score - that was the problem.
“Fourteen shots to 16; we certainly want to kick goals and we don't want to play a low-scoring game,” Bailey said.
"We missed some opportunities, some set shots to kick goals. We didn't take our opportunities, so that's very reflective on the scoreboard."
