LEADER Brent Moloney says he did not get involved in the off-field events, which led to the departure of coach Dean Bailey and resulted in Todd Viney as his interim replacement.
Speaking publicly for the first time since Bailey left the club, Moloney said he simply had focus on the match against Carlton.
“It’s obviously unusual, but I didn’t get caught up in it and I didn’t read the news or watch the news,” he told melbournefc.com.au following Melbourne’s 76-point loss to Carlton at the MCG on Saturday.
“I just focused on what I do every day and that’s just try and get better at training.
“What’s happened has happened, so we just had to get back to playing footy.
“That was a real focus since the announcement was made and that’s what we’re here to do - we’re here to play footy.
“I thought the boys came out and had a real crack in that first quarter. We just dropped away in that second quarter and that’s what killed us in the end.”
Moloney said he had to keep leading in the face of adversity.
“It was a big build up. I thought we had a really good week on the track, seeing as the circumstances we had,” he said.
“The guys’ attitude was really first class and it was just disappointing to lose by 70-odd points.
“We have a responsibility as a leadership group to stand up and lead the way.
“That’s what we all tried to do and we can take a few things out of this week’s game and move on to West Coast.”
Reflecting on the loss against the Blues, Moloney said Melbourne’s inaccurate kicking in the opening term and its second quarter - when it kicked 0.3 to 8.1 - ended the contest.
“We probably didn’t take our chances in that first quarter,” he said.
“Against a top five side, you need to kick straight and you need a bit of luck and you need to put them away.
“We just need to look back on the tape and go through it. They got on top of clearances and contested footy in the second quarter and that’s what hurt us.
“We’ll keep chipping away and working in those areas.”
Speaking publicly for the first time since Bailey left the club, Moloney said he simply had focus on the match against Carlton.
“It’s obviously unusual, but I didn’t get caught up in it and I didn’t read the news or watch the news,” he told melbournefc.com.au following Melbourne’s 76-point loss to Carlton at the MCG on Saturday.
“I just focused on what I do every day and that’s just try and get better at training.
“What’s happened has happened, so we just had to get back to playing footy.
“That was a real focus since the announcement was made and that’s what we’re here to do - we’re here to play footy.
“I thought the boys came out and had a real crack in that first quarter. We just dropped away in that second quarter and that’s what killed us in the end.”
Moloney said he had to keep leading in the face of adversity.
“It was a big build up. I thought we had a really good week on the track, seeing as the circumstances we had,” he said.
“The guys’ attitude was really first class and it was just disappointing to lose by 70-odd points.
“We have a responsibility as a leadership group to stand up and lead the way.
“That’s what we all tried to do and we can take a few things out of this week’s game and move on to West Coast.”
Reflecting on the loss against the Blues, Moloney said Melbourne’s inaccurate kicking in the opening term and its second quarter - when it kicked 0.3 to 8.1 - ended the contest.
“We probably didn’t take our chances in that first quarter,” he said.
“Against a top five side, you need to kick straight and you need a bit of luck and you need to put them away.
“We just need to look back on the tape and go through it. They got on top of clearances and contested footy in the second quarter and that’s what hurt us.
“We’ll keep chipping away and working in those areas.”
