WEST Coast coach Adam Simpson has not held back after his side's demoralising 97-point loss to Geelong, labelling the performance as "embarrassing".
After a sprightly start, leading by five points at quarter-time, the Eagles conceded 13 straight goals and were comprehensively outplayed all over the ground.
"We got annihilated in every aspect of the game, which was really disappointing. It was an embarrassing performance after quarter-time," Simpson said.
"You get what you deserve in a game, really.
"Had a go in the first quarter, quite competitive round the contest, good field position, we go in a goal up, plus nine or ten in the contest, and then the second quarter we just got blown away – centre bounces, contests in front of the ball, contests behind the ball, and they converted.
"Then we were just trying to plug holes for the rest of the day.
"You can question our effort, you can. And that's what's really disappointing.
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"I think there are stages in games where you can get a bit of a glazed look over your face, you don't know what to do, and that's my job, the coaches' job, to realign and reset it. And we couldn't find a way to get our guys mentally back in the game. Physically, we looked weak."
To make matters worse, acting skipper Jeremy McGovern's day finished in the second term, injuring his adductor/groin.
It adds to the club's already extensive injury list, populated by senior stars such as Josh Kennedy, Shannon Hurn, Luke Shuey, Elliot Yeo and Liam Ryan.
Jamie Cripps was brave throughout, finishing the game with a number of knocks to the ribs.
"There is a tipping point with personnel, but that's not a reason to play like we did. Expectations are that we still perform a bit better than we did today," Simpson said.
"I don't know [the severity of McGovern's injury], but it was bad enough not to come back on."
Geelong has been patchy up until this weekend, but burst through in brilliant fashion after the first break, eventually kicking 21 goals for the game.
"You have to be pleased. We played much more like how we've been trying to play," coach Chris Scott said.
"The execution, especially after quarter-time, was exceptional."
Scott was happy with the chemistry between the team's new spearhead combination in Tom Hawkins and former Giant Jeremy Cameron, playing his first game for the club after overcoming a hamstring complaint.
"We've seen snippets of them at training, not as much as we'd like ... we had a level of confidence that they would complement each other well," Scott said.
"The challenge integrating them was to make sure they formed a good combination without blunting either individual's strengths."
