Senior players went missing

COLLINGWOOD coach Mick Malthouse was left ruing his players' lack of responsibility in the side's shattering 73-point preliminary final loss to Geelong on Saturday night.

Malthouse said too many of his senior players had not taken ownership of their role or shown leadership during the heavy defeat.

"It was terrible. Shocking. Big crowd … it's a shame to have to talk to a group of players about the last half of football after what I believe has been a fairly productive year," he said.

"The thing I was most disappointed with – and I told the players I wasn't going to say it but it's that obvious – we needed players to take responsibility.

"Last week we did, but there seemed to be a lack of it; leadership accountability, in many respects.

"That's not Nick Maxwell. That's a group of players that have played a number of games that need to have addressed certain things.

"One of them was bizarre. To allow Steele Sidebottom, Dayne Beams and I think Brent Macaffer to walk into the middle for a ball up against (Gary) Ablett, (Joel) Corey, (Jimmy) Bartel ... and a fresh ruckman, that's not what I call good sense."

Malthouse also conceded some of his younger players were out of their depth against the Cats and that other members of the side had struggled with poor form at the wrong end of the season.

"We've fallen away badly in the last few weeks in regard to midfield pressure, and midfield clearances and midfield scoring," he said.

"We have four or five players that have really just fallen right away, and that's a concern and we have to look at that to see what we need to do to help address that.

"Hopefully the experience to Sidebottom and Beams and Macaffer and so forth … it's a moment in their time they can say they played senior football against the best sides.

"It won't make their bodies any bigger over 12 months, but at least it gives them a sighter."

Malthouse added that 2009 was otherwise an industrious year for the Magpies, as he believed they had made inroads on a long-term plan to bring together a group of talented players.

He said finishing in the top four, blooding young players and the efforts of others at VFL level were among the positives.

"Football never ceases to amaze," he said. "We came together, this football club and myself in 1999, on the bottom, and played in a grand final three years later.

"We have done a lot of hard yards with a lot of young kids who should be stronger.

"I can't remember a grand final being won by too many young players. Basically, most sides will have a lot of 25-year-olds to 30 and a history of playing a long time together.

"That's our goal. What we've achieved this year has been an opportunity for a lot of players to play finals footy, and you cannot underestimate that."

He maintained Scott Pendlebury, who was a late withdrawal after failing to come up from his fractured fibula, was every chance to play up until the final moment.