MELBOURNE ended the game with one player on the bench and a few walking wounded on the ground, but coach Neil Craig said the 95-point loss to Fremantle was far from honourable.
Sam Blease was subbed out in the second quarter after hurting his ankle, the same one he injured during the NAB Cup.
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Soon after, James Strauss left the ground with a shoulder injury and did not return.
In the third quarter it was Shannon Byrnes’ turn to head to the change rooms, having hurt his foot.
Those setbacks were just part of the reason Melbourne suffered another sizeable defeat to the Dockers but the main factor was it was outclassed.
Neil Craig even said he knew driving to the ground his team was in for a tough afternoon.
It probably explains why he didn't panic when Melbourne conceded the first 16 inside 50s without registering one itself.
Fremantle was winning the ball out of the centre at will. The Demons' best extractor, Nathan Jones, had Ryan Crowley for close company.
At the second centre bounce, Stephen Hill was left alone on the members' wing and Aaron Sandilands just thumped it his way.
The rest of the Melbourne midfield was as hesitant as an airline passenger pouring hot coffee during turbulence. It was a disheartening start.
So Craig pushed Jack Watts and Jeremy Howe behind the ball as spare men to try to generate some forward ball movement.
Some would question whether such a move was good for Watts’ and Howe's development but Craig would hear none of it.
"A lot of the top teams play with people behind the ball. You need to be able to do it," said the coach.
"I'm not suggesting we'll do it all the time. Sometimes it's more from an offensive point of view, to generate some ball movement out of your defence. What we've got to get better at is handling the loose man at the other end."
Whatever the personal value, the move paid team dividends with Melbourne matching Fremantle for inside 50s from that point on until half-time.
Jack Viney and Colin Sylvia (who ended the day with 28 of Melbourne's 119 contested possessions between them) began to engage in the scrap.
Watts set up some play with precise kicking and Jack Trengove linked up well.
The Demons kicked four goals to Fremantle's five in the second quarter and, but for a couple of unlucky bounces, could have scored more.
Craig was impressed that the team was able to change its game style in the second term, its kick to handball ratio going from 1.34 in the first quarter to 1.09 in the second.
"I thought our guys kept their cool. To be able to do that against Fremantle… it'll hold us in good stead for the future, to be able to change our ball movement when we have to," Craig said.
Undermanned, the Demons lost the second half by 64 points. It scored just one goal – a snap from Howe in the third term – and it had 20 inside 50s to 29 for the half.
Could it be construed as an honourable loss? No way according to Craig.
Lucky, because the new president Glen Bartlett said pre-match he does not believe in such things.
"No 100 point-loss is an honourable loss. You can't go down that path otherwise you don't move forward. We've lost consistently for so long that you've got to be really careful it doesn't become an acceptance. You've got to be hard-nosed about what it takes to win. It's easy to lose in any field. It's always the easy option to take," Craig said.
"You've got to have a winning mindset and to a certain extent I saw that today with our group, even though it was a 100-point loss. But it's not an honourable loss."
The Demons have just two games left in a disastrous season that has led to much change already and is expected to produce more soon.
But Craig will drive the players to the line.
He hopes defender James Frawley will return next week and key forward Chris Dawes is also a chance.
Beyond that it's all about attitude.
"We need to play with a winning attitude in the last two games," Craig said.
