Immediately after the game, coach Paul Roos said he was keen to consign the club’s heaviest loss under his reign to the dustbin and focus firmly on Saturday night’s clash against Geelong at ANZ Stadium.
Mumford echoed that sentiment on Tuesday morning in a video conference with his former Cats clubmate James Podsiadly, saying the Swans simply “didn’t come to play” against the Demons.
“Obviously we’re disappointed with the way we played on the weekend and we’ve got to put it behind us. It’s not the way Sydney plays their footy normally, so we’ll put it behind us and move on to Geelong,” he said.
“Melbourne did play really well but our effort and intensity just wasn’t there, which was quite obvious in the way we got beaten.
“Everything seemed normal [before the game] until the first five minutes when they blew us away. From then on, we just couldn’t match it.”
Geelong looms as a huge test for the Swans, having already accounted for Paul Roos’ men by 67 points in round seven, and Mumford said his side needed to produce its best to have any chance of besting the reigning premier.
“It’s a great challenge for us; Geelong is one of the best sides in the competition,” he said.
“We’ve got to play a bit better footy than we did on the weekend but hopefully we can bounce back strong.”
Mumford has shone as the Swans’ No.1 ruckman in the absence of Mark Seaby, joining mature-age Cats rookie Podsiadly as one of 2010’s biggest success stories.
Podsiadly was effusive in his praise of Mumford, having helped the big ruckman build his solid frame in the gym as a fitness assistant in 2009 before he was drafted as a mature-aged rookie.
“I’m pretty proud of Shane, the way he’s gone about his footy this year. Being the No.1 ruckman in Sydney is what he deserves. He’s a hard trainer as I saw last year and he’s doing his job pretty well,” he said.
Mumford was equally complimentary of Podsiadly, 28, who has booted 37 goals in 13 games in his first AFL season after years of dominating the VFL.
“It’s amazing to come out and do what he’s done. To be overlooked so many times and then come out and throw it back in their faces, he’s done really well,” Mumford said.
However, the Swans ruckman said his admiration for Podsiadly didn’t extend to giving the Cats forward an easy night at ANZ Stadium on Saturday.
“I don’t think it’ll worry me too much. I’m quite happy to get back in front of him; he’s not going to come through me too hard,” he said with a laugh.
