COACH Neil Craig says he was far more disappointed with Melbourne’s loss to North Melbourne than becoming the first team to lose to Greater Western Sydney in 2013.
Craig said he was “terse” with his team following its 122-point loss to the Kangaroos at Etihad Stadium in round 18, but believed his side produced a greater output against the Giants at Skoda Stadium last Saturday.
“The North Melbourne performance was really poor. [It] was one of the most disappointing – if not the most disappointing – loss for the year,” he said at AAMI Park on Thursday.
“The GWS [loss] needs to be kept in perspective. It’s more the fact that GWS is two years of age as a club and hadn’t won a game [this year] and we’d won two. But in reality, the playing groups, in terms of their profiles, are not too dissimilar.
“I was more disappointed with the North Melbourne game than the GWS game.”
Craig said the Demons were “disrespectful” in all areas against the Roos.
“I said in the press conference after that game that it was the classical game where the team had come to play, not perform. It’s a fine line, but it’s a significant line,” he said.
“Game day is the most important day in the week of an AFL club and it needs to be treated with that urgency.
“On that day, we didn’t, but I’m saying against GWS we did – absolutely we did.”
Craig was also frank about the club’s current situation, given he spoke to an unusually small media gathering.
“Sometimes you get to a stage where you get forgotten and then it normally goes to ridicule and laughed at for a period of time, so we’ll go through that,” he said.
“What I do know, [is that what this club] stands for with its history and its importance to the AFL ... with my short period of time with the playing group, it will get very, very good again.”