“TODAY was probably as frustrating a game of footy as I’ve ever seen. I haven’t seen anything like that before in my time. The mistakes were extraordinary. Extraordinary.”

“If you can’t handball and you can’t kick, it’s going to be a shocking game. I haven’t seen anything like it for a long, long time.

“Both teams were trying to move the ball, so it wasn’t for a lack of adventure – and both teams weren’t trying to just bang it down the line. It was just the horrible skills. Horrible. There is no other way you can dice or slice it. It was unbelievable.”

Those were the thoughts of Paul Roos, who wasn’t mincing his words when he spoke about Melbourne’s 23-point loss to the Brisbane Lions post-match at Etihad Stadium on Sunday.

In the context of recent seasons, it was far from some of the disasters that have been dished up since Melbourne’s most recent finals performance in 2006. But it was an incredibly frustrating performance, given it was up by 14 points at the six-minute mark of the final quarter and then squandered the lead when the Lions piled on six unanswered goals.

It was yet another winnable game that Melbourne didn’t nail in the final term – something that has become a common trend this year.

In fact, Roos said Melbourne was “a team waiting to get beaten”.

“I think we play to win, but we just look up at the scoreboard and go ‘I’m not sure how we’re in front, when we’re playing that poorly’,” he said.

“If you look at one game, you can say it’s an aberration, but we’ve won four and been in front, I reckon six or seven games.

“So it’s certainly not an aberration what happened today. I think in that case, you have to go back to the mindset and it’s ‘we’re waiting to get beaten’. If you’re waiting to get beaten, generally what happens is that you get beaten.”

And although it still remains a far greater effort than recent seasons, it could be the scars of recent years that sting impinge the development at times. 

And Roos believes there are some players who still “might not be able to get over what’s happened here in the past”.

“I don’t profess to be a psychologist … but from my point of view, I see what you guys (the media) see … so there has got to be a reason behind it. It just doesn’t come back to bad luck,” he said.

“Collectively, if you can’t work it out, you’ve just got to make changes and keep rolling that over.

“You’re 14 points up and you’ve turned the ball over horribly for three and a half quarters and then you just fall away and they get a bit of momentum and win comfortably.”

Roos acknowledged his side was “a pretty good footy team” when it makes it a contest, as “we do have some guys who prefer to win one-on-one contests”. But he said if the skills are down, so is his team.

“[Our lack of] inside 50s today was clearly a result of deplorable skills.”

Despite being frustrated no end, Roos said he was fully aware turning around the Melbourne Football Club was never going to be an easy job.

In the bigger picture, there has been significant improvement this season. But as Roos said winning definitely remains the toughest component.

“There is a willingness to improve and there is a willingness to get better and a willingness to comply. But I think that lack of belief that we can win – or we’re capable of winning – is far, far greater than what I imagined it to possibly be,” he said.

“I think when you’re a club like we are, everyone knows that [changes will be made at the end of the season] and that’s not rocket science. From a public point of view, you can make a big issue of it, but I think players are pretty smart now.

“I don’t think that’s unique to bottom teams – clearly there are more changes to bottom teams than top teams – but I think you’ve got to improve your list. You’ve got to bring players in and you’ve got to look to get better.”

It only reinforces the incredible task at hand for Roos and his men.

The journey continues …