LEADER James Frawley says he can’t pinpoint why Melbourne was able to win its first third quarter of the year, after Fremantle smashed it by 71 points in the opening half of Sunday’s 90-point loss at Patersons Stadium.

Frawley said it was incredibly frustrating to produce such a poor start, yet bounce back with a reasonable second half. But the key defender said it mattered little in the wash-up.

“The game was already lost, but we just had to come out and start again,” Frawley told melbournefc.com.au.

“The boys were a lot better in the second half, but I couldn’t tell you why to be honest. I think the boys were just sick of being pushed around and losing.

“We played a normal structure and we were actually not too bad and we ended up winning the third quarter and they only beat us by 19 points.”

Frawley conceded 2013 was difficult to endure. 

“It hasn’t been a great year so far, we’ve only won one game and it’s pretty shattering to be honest,” he said.

“To come out and play footy, you want to enjoy it and you want to have fun with your mates out there, but when you’re 40 points down at quarter-time, it’s hard to.

“It’s not much fun at all.”

Frawley, who was drafted a couple of months after Melbourne’s most recent finals appearance in 2006, said he was still determined to help turn the club’s fortunes around, despite the trying times.

“Ever since I’ve been here, we haven’t had a winning culture, but we’re trying to change that now,” he said.

“It’s not working for us at the moment, but hopefully soon enough it’ll change and turnaround for us.

“That’s all we can try and do.”