Sydney coach Dean Cox has sternly lamented the Swans' performance against Adelaide on Saturday night, as the Crows delivered a 90-point blow to Sydney's wiltering finals chances.
Cox was almost at a loss for words after witnessing what Sydney dished up on an important occasion for the club, with many former players in attendance for the 20-year reunion of the 2005 premiership, including Adam Goodes.
The Swans' chances at defying history are slimming by the week, as Cox's first season in charge following a grand final blowout looks set to continue the trend of belted runner-ups missing finals altogether the following year.
Cox mentioned many areas that needed to be addressed post-game, as he expressed how stunning the thrashing was to his expectations.
"It was unacceptable and embarrassing," Cox said.
"No, I didn't expect that on such a massive night for the footy club, when you have a 20-year reunion.
"For a team that played desperate, uncompromising, ruthless football, that was far from it. We need to strip it back and get to work real quick."
Cox said players can expect some "tough" sessions at training following the brutal reality check, and knows that he'll have to assume more responsibility to bring back "confidence" to the playing group.
"We are going to fight our way through this. Everyone that's involved at the footy club, there's going to be no easy way through it," Cox said.
"So I said to them (the players) expect some tough sessions. That'll happen, in terms of what we've seen this year.
"...I think we've been inconsistent. We've said that all the way through the inconsistent weeks, games fluctuated far from what we know works or what we want to do to hopefully get it to work.
"That's my responsibility. I take full responsibility for that, to get the players into a position where we compete hard for every minute of the game.
"The number one thing that brings consistency is that you spend time on your game, so you know exactly when you finish the week and you start 'I'm confident in my ability because I've done the work'.
"That's the only way you build confidence. So we need to make sure that we're doing as much as we possibly can so come game day, the players are confident to execute.
"That's something that I've certainly got a drive harder, and I'm going to."
The Swans have a prime opportunity to bounce back against Richmond at the MCG next week, however the Tigers are too coming off a heartbreaking loss to GWS, albeit opposing margins, meaning Richmond will be no easy-beats.
Sydney will then have their mid-season bye in Round 14.
