'We didn't show care': Rivers
In the wake of Melbourne's disastrous loss to Geelong, veteran Jared Rivers says: 'It's about care, and we didn't show any...'
MELBOURNE defender Jared Rivers has admitted the Demons didn't care at times during the shattering, record-breaking loss to Geelong at Skilled Stadium on Saturday.
Rivers, who vigorously defended under-fire Melbourne coach Dean Bailey, suggested the playing group didn't play for each other during the horror 186-point defeat at Geelong.
The loss was the second biggest in VFL/AFL history, with the Cats booting the fourth-highest total in the competition's history.
"A loss like that puts pressure on everyone, including the playing group … it's about care, and we didn't show any care for each other yesterday," the veteran Demon said at AAMI Park on Sunday.
When asked why the players didn't care, Rivers was stumped: "We don't know the answer yet, we're trying to find out why."
With the woeful performance turning up the heat on the out-of-contract Bailey, Rivers said it was unfair to blame one person, and threw his support behind the beleaguered coach.
"We've got no issues with Dean, you can't put yesterday's performance down to Dean. The players are right behind him," he said.
"We're shattered with the way we played … I've been here nine years and it's probably the worst performance I've been involved in.
"It was one of our worst displays of footy since I've been at the club."
Rivers, who admitted the mood of the playing group "wasn't great" after the shellacking, said the club had to stay strong.
"You guys [the media] will try to find cracks to try and break our group apart, but we're a really tight group … we're all embarrassed, but it's only us that can get us out of this," he said.
"We'll sit around today and have a bit of a chat … see if we can come up with some answers, because in the last five games [of the year] we've got to show something and if we don't, we're in a lot of trouble.
"We speak about resilience a fair bit in the playing group and yesterday we didn't see any of that - we've had some really good wins and some terrible losses, and we can't really put the finger on why that is.
"Hopefully over the next five weeks we can find that [consistency]."
The Demons' next assignment is against top-four aspirant Carlton at the MCG on Saturday - the return bout after round 10's "bruise-free" loss to the Blues.
