LEADER Jack Grimes says Melbourne’s 45-point loss to Hawthorn at the MCG on Sunday was one of the worst losses he’s been involved with at the club.
The outstanding young defender gave an honest appraisal of his side’s performance, which saw the Demons squander a 19-point half-time lead.
“There have been some bad losses, but when you’re on top like that and then to lose, it’s definitely up there with bad losses that we’ve had in my time,” Grimes told melbournefc.com.au.
“We just can’t afford to do that. We can’t afford to play half a game of footy - it’s never going to win us a game.
“But credit to them (Hawthorn), because they did play well and they moved the ball well, especially in the second half and then we played into their hands.”
Grimes said the performance simply wasn’t acceptable and wouldn’t be tolerated.
“We’ll go back and look at the vision and assess it and see who wasn’t playing their role and why it was falling apart,” he said.
“We weren’t playing to our structures and when they started getting scores on the board, we almost panicked a bit and went back to our old ways.
“We’ll have a big look at the vision during the week and we’ll have a lot to work on going into our match against Brisbane.
“After a performance like that, you’ll be guaranteed the boys will be giving absolutely everything next week.”
The 21-year-old said the Demons felt confident at half-time, before Hawthorn piled on 8.11 to 1.1 in the third term.
“After the way we started, we were really in the game. It felt like our intensity was good going into half-time. We were moving the ball well and it felt like we were running over them,” Grimes said.
“But it ended up being like the [NAB Challenge] match we played against them in Tassie, where we fell apart in the second half.
“We had a big focus going into half-time not to drop off, but we started playing into their hands. We gave away way too many inside 50s and struggled to get the ball out of defensive.”
Grimes said it was relentless for the defenders in the second half.
“We gave away 74 inside 50s, which is a massive number and it did feel like that all we could do in the backline was defend,” he said.
“It was very hard as a backman and very frustrating, because we did get it through their zone, but then there was no one in our forward line.
“It was a very frustrating game.”
The outstanding young defender gave an honest appraisal of his side’s performance, which saw the Demons squander a 19-point half-time lead.
“There have been some bad losses, but when you’re on top like that and then to lose, it’s definitely up there with bad losses that we’ve had in my time,” Grimes told melbournefc.com.au.
“We just can’t afford to do that. We can’t afford to play half a game of footy - it’s never going to win us a game.
“But credit to them (Hawthorn), because they did play well and they moved the ball well, especially in the second half and then we played into their hands.”
Grimes said the performance simply wasn’t acceptable and wouldn’t be tolerated.
“We’ll go back and look at the vision and assess it and see who wasn’t playing their role and why it was falling apart,” he said.
“We weren’t playing to our structures and when they started getting scores on the board, we almost panicked a bit and went back to our old ways.
“We’ll have a big look at the vision during the week and we’ll have a lot to work on going into our match against Brisbane.
“After a performance like that, you’ll be guaranteed the boys will be giving absolutely everything next week.”
The 21-year-old said the Demons felt confident at half-time, before Hawthorn piled on 8.11 to 1.1 in the third term.
“After the way we started, we were really in the game. It felt like our intensity was good going into half-time. We were moving the ball well and it felt like we were running over them,” Grimes said.
“But it ended up being like the [NAB Challenge] match we played against them in Tassie, where we fell apart in the second half.
“We had a big focus going into half-time not to drop off, but we started playing into their hands. We gave away way too many inside 50s and struggled to get the ball out of defensive.”
Grimes said it was relentless for the defenders in the second half.
“We gave away 74 inside 50s, which is a massive number and it did feel like that all we could do in the backline was defend,” he said.
“It was very hard as a backman and very frustrating, because we did get it through their zone, but then there was no one in our forward line.
“It was a very frustrating game.”
