A candid Jake Melksham admits Melbourne has hit rock bottom.
The one-time flag fancies were handed their 16th loss of the season and sixth in succession on Friday night, with lowly Sydney belting them to the tune of 53 points.
Asked post-match on AFL Nation if this as low as it gets, Melksham was categoric: "Yep," he said.
"We're sort of just searching for answers a little bit here at the minute. It's been a very poor year.
"I would never have thought this would happen… this time last year was the best time of my life, the best time of the club's history for a fair while; we couldn’t have been better positioned for success. I just don't know, I can't give an answer as to why we're playing the way we are."
Garry Lyon - "It is not OK what has happened tonight, there is no way that this Swans team is 48 points better on paper. It’s embarrassing for Melbourne.” #AFLDeesSwans
— AFL Nation (@AFLNation) August 16, 2019
Last year's preliminary finalists are languishing in 17th position of the AFL ladder with just five wins to its name and will almost certainly finish in the bottom two for the first time since 2014.
Against the 15th-placed Swans, the Dees were woeful, barely giving a yelp.
Simon Goodwin's men kicked three goals in the first term, but then went goalless in quarters two and three, before finishing with a total of five goals, despite having 55 inside 50s - ten more than the Swans.
"It's extremely disappointing, we were woeful in front of goal, myself included. We played in our forward half for longer, had more inside 50, but just not efficient enough, so there's a bit to work on," said Melksham, who was a focal point up forward and kicked three goals.
"The longer the year's gone and with more pressure, the worse we've gone. We've just lost our composure and gone away from what we've been good at; last year we were good at entering inside 50 and also converting.
"It was bloody hard back there this week down in the forward line; we were down on talls and Sydney - that's the best defensive unit I've ever played against.
"We're just working with what we've got at the minute and trying to salvage something from the year, but obviously there's going to be a fair bit of reflection come next weekend after the season's done.
"I know at times we're probably not giving the right option either or giving a leading lane, but I still feel that a lot of the times there was those options but we're just not composed enough to hit them or lower the eyes. It's hard when it's repetitive and it keeps happening, but it's something that we'll look at during the week and we've just got to practice it at training more."
The Demons' sorry season comes to a close next weekend when they tackle North Melbourne in Hobart.
Listen to Patrick Cripps’ chat on SEN Breakfast in the player below