Garry Lyon has slammed Melbourne’s dismal first half performance in Thursday night’s must-win match against Sydney at Cazalys Stadium.
The Demons, who jumped into eighth spot after last week’s win over St Kilda, were expected to overcome the Swans and take another big step towards making the finals.
But a poor start saw Melbourne trail by 28 points at the main break before eventually going down by 21 points.
“This is such a Melbourne thing to be doing at the moment, as much as I hate to say it,” Demons great Lyon told Fox Footy.
“Get themselves in the eight up against a team who are seen to be down below them, no intensity.
One passage of play late in the second quarter infuriated Lyon that led to him accusing certain Melbourne players of giving up.
“This was (Ollie) Florent in the last minute of the match, watch how easy this is,” Lyon said.
“Look at the Melbourne players standing – they’ve given up here. They gave up and gave up again.
“That is the worrying sign, that is right on half-time.
“They’ve got plenty to worry about, that was almost as worrying as anything.”