DEFENDER James Frawley says he was “pretty disappointed” with his side’s effort against Carlton, after Melbourne remained right in the contest up until three quarter-time.
A seven goal to zip final term from the Blues resulted in a 58-point loss to the Demons at the MCG on Sunday.
And although the final margin was a blow-out, Frawley said the performance up until three quarter-time was akin to Melbourne’s recent form, before last week’s 101-point shocker to Sydney Swans at the SCG.
“Not last week, but a few weeks before, we had often played three quarters and one bad quarter and it had cost us,” he told melbournefc.com.au.
“We were pretty good for three quarters and we went with Carlton and fought the game out pretty well.
“We had a pretty focused effort on desire during the week and just having a crack, but in the last quarter they got away from us.”
Frawley said he was unsure why the Demons fell away in the last term after a promising start.
“I seriously couldn’t tell you,” he said.
“Out on the ground, it’s pretty hard to pick up on structures, but it looked as if they were getting easy ball inside 50.
“That put our backs under pressure and they ended up kicking seven goals in the last quarter, which isn’t good enough.”
Still, Frawley said he was pleased with the efforts of his teammates for the majority of the match.
“Neeldy (Mark Neeld) said at three quarter-time that everyone was having a crack and we might’ve even been a little bit up in contested possessions. But we got beaten by 15 [contested possessions] in the last term, so that was pretty frustrating,” he said.
“We’ll get back out on the training track and hopefully perform better. We’ll help each other and work hard as a group.
“Next week [against Essendon] is a good challenge for us. We’ve got to try and play four quarters and see if it’ll be a big improvement for us.”
A seven goal to zip final term from the Blues resulted in a 58-point loss to the Demons at the MCG on Sunday.
And although the final margin was a blow-out, Frawley said the performance up until three quarter-time was akin to Melbourne’s recent form, before last week’s 101-point shocker to Sydney Swans at the SCG.
“Not last week, but a few weeks before, we had often played three quarters and one bad quarter and it had cost us,” he told melbournefc.com.au.
“We were pretty good for three quarters and we went with Carlton and fought the game out pretty well.
“We had a pretty focused effort on desire during the week and just having a crack, but in the last quarter they got away from us.”
Frawley said he was unsure why the Demons fell away in the last term after a promising start.
“I seriously couldn’t tell you,” he said.
“Out on the ground, it’s pretty hard to pick up on structures, but it looked as if they were getting easy ball inside 50.
“That put our backs under pressure and they ended up kicking seven goals in the last quarter, which isn’t good enough.”
Still, Frawley said he was pleased with the efforts of his teammates for the majority of the match.
“Neeldy (Mark Neeld) said at three quarter-time that everyone was having a crack and we might’ve even been a little bit up in contested possessions. But we got beaten by 15 [contested possessions] in the last term, so that was pretty frustrating,” he said.
“We’ll get back out on the training track and hopefully perform better. We’ll help each other and work hard as a group.
“Next week [against Essendon] is a good challenge for us. We’ve got to try and play four quarters and see if it’ll be a big improvement for us.”
