ESSENDON coach Mark Thompson says show-cause notices handed to his players this week should not have played a role in Sunday's dramatic loss to Melbourne at the MCG, instead blaming a lack of discipline from his Bombers.
Thompson kept the players behind closed doors for 45 minutes post-match after they let a 33-point lead slip in the second half and conceded a goal with 19 seconds remaining to lose by one point.
The coach said he didn't talk to his players about the events of the past week post-match and he didn't believe it should be a factor in their performance, having "lived with it for two years".
"We can talk about it and people can use it as an excuse, but it's not an excuse in our eyes, in my eyes," he said.
"It was a bit worse than other weeks we've had recently, but we've been smashed for two years so it's not as if they came out today and they just couldn't play because of the week they've had.
"Come on, we can't accept that."
Thompson said his post-match address was "just a general chat" about the issues in Essendon's performance with which he was unhappy after players strayed from the team structure.
He said he would have been equally upset with the performance had the Bombers "won by five points or lost by 10 points".
"I just don't think we stuck to the game plan long enough and we've done that consistently over a period of time," he said.
"They must just accept themselves doing it and they must accept their teammates doing it, because they let them get away with it.
"They see their teammates going away from [the game plan] and whether they accept that or not … tonight they accepted it.
"I just basically said, 'Stop doing this. If you're serious about what you do just do it properly'."
Essendon was without injured captain Jobe Watson on Sunday, with Brendon Goddard (31 possessions) leading the team and earning the coach's praise.
"Losing Jobe is a bit of a blow," Thompson said of the inspirational skipper, who is sidelined with a long-term hip injury.
"It was a good opportunity for people to step up and learn a bit more about them.
"Goddard was pretty good, (David) Zaharakis, (Dyson) Heppell … but we probably needed a few people to get with them, too."
Thompson said the Demons had given his players a lesson by "trying to do something when they turn up to their work on weekends for their club and their teammates".
He said talk was cheap for the Bombers, who face Adelaide at Etihad Stadium next Sunday.
"We'll just go through the week and it's up to the players," he said.
"We'll come in on Monday and we'll go through the same process … train them up, recover them, treat them if they're injured.
"You've just got to get out there on the weekend and do it."
