Gaz takes ‘pitiful’ Dees to task

Former captain Garry Lyon has delivered a scathing critique of Melbourne’s intensity in their loss to Collingwood, which put paid to their finals chances.

The Dees missed out on a place in the top eight by just half a percentage point, following West Coast’s 29 point victory over Adelaide.

Lyon said their start which saw them trail by 32 points at quarter time was an indictment on every player and their inability to deal with the expectation.

“The game started at 1.45, the twist came at about 1.52 for me. Seven minutes into the game that’s where you just went, what in god’s name is this mob doing?” he said on SEN Breakfast.

“It is an indictment on every individual player that played in that game on Saturday to say I wasn’t at the required intensity to get the job done when it mattered most, and that is pitiful.

“They were red hot favourite, everyone thought they were going to win and they didn’t deal with the expectation again.”

Lyon dismissed the notion the Dees were not mature to get the job done and make the finals and simply declared they are not trustworthy.

“You just can’t trust them. Just win when you thought you could trust them, when the season’s on the line you can’t trust them,” he said.

“I don’t care if they lost, it’s the way they lose.”

Despite the heartbreaking end, Tim Watson said Melbourne deserved a pass mark for their year and believes the defeat pointed to some immaturity.

“I thought they made great inroads this year,” he said.

“I think it points to the fact they are an immature team, and with immaturity you’re going to get ebbs and flows in performance, and one of the things young players don’t deal with well is expectation, and we saw that at the weekend.”