DEFENDER Tom McDonald has summed up Melbourne’s 63-point loss to Fremantle at TIO Stadium on Saturday night as a “pretty disappointing” performance, particularly in the third term when Freo kicked 7.2 to 2.2.

Although the Demons were still within reach at half-time, McDonald said his team struggled from the start.

“The second half, we really killed ourselves. They didn’t do anything unbelievable. It was a lot of mistakes by us and we weren’t hard enough and it was pretty flattening to come all this way [to Darwin] and waste an opportunity like that,” he told Dee TV.

“We could’ve been only one or two goals down [at half-time], but the [inaccurate] goalkicking [hurt] … there were so many things that went wrong before that I think.

“We thought we could get back into the game, but we had a really terrible third quarter – and second half. [We didn’t have] the intensity we needed, and guys weren’t helping each other out. They were doing their own thing, so we were very poor.”

But McDonald said Fremantle was a first class team that could win this year’s flag. 

“They’re a really good side and I reckon they’ll be right there at the end of September again,” he said.

“There were a lot of mistakes made and we’re just not doing the hard things like going to win our own ball … and we were fumbling. It was just weak stuff that really let us down.

“They’re (Fremantle) a really good side, but it was a lot of our fault as well.”

McDonald acknowledged the conditions were tricky, but added that it didn’t affect Fremantle.

“The conditions make it hard, but it’s hard for both teams,” he said.

“The ball’s slippery and you’re all sweaty and it’s a bit like a cake of soap towards the end, but it’s the same for them as well – they still have to kick goals.

“It makes it tough to play, but it’s only as tough for us, as it is for them.”

McDonald, who missed his first match of the season last round, due to a calf injury, was 50/50 leading up to the clash. But he found out he was right to play following Thursday’s training session at TIO Stadium.

“I just needed to train on Thursday. I didn’t know if I’d be right for Thursday because I hadn’t really tested the calf out during the week,” he said.

“It was a little bit sore last week and I could’ve gone [through and played last round], but the chance of doing something was too great I think.

“So we thought we’d leave it until this week and we didn’t know if it’d be right. It was a little bit tender during the week, but by Thursday it was really good.

“We decided it was worth playing and there was a low risk of reinjuring [it], so we gave it a go and it’s held up well, and it’s not sore now.

“I’ll just recover well and ice up well and I should be right next week as well.”

McDonald not only got himself up for the match, he was also arguably Melbourne’s best against Fremantle. But he played down that notion – even though he was praised post-match by coach Paul Roos – saying he was pleased with only“some parts” of his game.

“I think I did some good things, but I was just as much a part of the problem as everyone else was,” he said.

“It’s just disappointing to lose by that much when we’ve been so close in a lot of games this year, against good sides as well – not just against sides close to us on the ladder, so that’s what’s disappointing.”