But the Sydney Swans veteran used the word himself to describe some of his side's play in last week's performance against Hawthorn.
Bolton says the club was forced to undergo a "brutal" review of the Hawks game and must urgently eliminate that sort of effort in Saturday's crunch match against fellow top-four hopeful Fremantle at the SCG.
"Obviously the analysis of it, we had to be pretty brutal on ourselves," Bolton told reporters on Thursday.
"It was an ordinary performance against Hawthorn and they comprehensively beat us.
"As a player you don't like seeing bits of footage where you could work a bit harder or times when we were pretty soft.
"It was a big moment for the club to be playing down there on the 'G, but that chance is gone now and we move on.
"Hopefully we can really respond and that's what a good side does.
"We get a chance this weekend."
The Swans currently have a very different line-up from the team that claimed last year's premiership, with injuries taking a toll.
Shane Mumford was again limited to running laps early in Thursday's training session and appears unlikely to face the Dockers, meaning Jesse White is a strong chance of retaining his place.
Lewis Roberts-Thomson, Alex Johnson and Rhyce Shaw are also missing from last year's premiership team, yet Bolton is backing whoever comes into the side to perform.
"I think we have got good depth," he said.
"We've had a number of guys pressing for selection in our reserves for a number of weeks.
"It's part and parcel of AFL footy, it's a war of attrition in the end and hopefully you do your best to manage those injuries during the year.
"It doesn't really matter too much who's missing, we back our system and expect maximum effort from everyone out on the field."
Bolton has had another solid start to the season, currently leading the Swans' goalkicking with 13, ahead of Ben McGlynn, Jarrad McVeigh (12) and Adam Goodes (10).
Bolton is currently the eighth-ranked Swan overall in the Official AFL Player Ratings.
But the 33-year-old has identified that his form typically drops away in the second half of the year, something he is keen to change this time around.
It was widely assumed at the start of the year that this would be Bolton's 15th and final season, but he has left the door open to potentially play on.
"I'm always on one-year deals. I'll deal with that when it comes," he said.
"I play every game like it's my last and just enjoy it."
His coach John Longmire also isn’t sure how many more games Bolton will add to his 308 to date.
"It's a bit too early to be talking about that," Longmire said. "I thought it was Jude's last season last year.
"There's a fair way to go in the season yet, (but) he's been kicking goals for us up forward and had a pretty solid season to date."
James Dampney is a reporter for AFL.com.au. Follow him on Twitter: @AFL_JD
