After a stunning win over premiers Hawthorn in round two, the Swans were brought back to earth, unable to match the Lions tackling intensity and pressure.
Bolton says it was a deflating loss against an emerging Lions outfit.
“Very disappointing tonight,” Bolton said.
“Obviously after last week’s performance we came here with a lot of confidence and knew it was going to be a tough game. We thought we were a good chance of matching it with them but they really out pointed us in some key areas tonight.”
Those areas included contested possessions (137 to 125), kicks (206 to 179) and marks (82 to 62). The Swans led the tackle count 85 to 80, but were beaten by a team harder at the ball and with greater efficiency in wet conditions.
“We let them get too free and it obviously hurt us a few times with them going forward,” Bolton said.
“Brisbane are a really good side, they’re an up and coming young, hard side, but it’s really disappointing that we were clearly outdone in a lot of those areas, especially hardness in tough conditions,” Bolton said.
It caps a confusing opening three rounds for Swans fans, where the players have produced three vastly different results.
“We’ve played some OK footy but it’s been really patchy over the opening three rounds,” Bolton said.
“That’s not a way we like to play, we like to be consistent. It’s been promising that we’ve shown we can play good footy, but the lapses have been really costly.”
After racking up 25 disposals against Hawthorn last week, Bolton could manage just nine touches against the Lions.
He found himself anchored to the goal square trying to contain Lions spearhead Daniel Bradshaw.
“Tonight it was a bit of a different role playing deeper on Bradshaw for most of the game … I think in general I would have liked to get a bit more run, but that didn’t happen for a few different reasons tonight,” Bolton said.
The 28-year-old defender, who played 29 games for the Lions during their triple premiership era, says Bradshaw (13 goals from three games) is a vastly underestimated player.
“A lot gets written about Brown,” Bolton said.
“But I think Bradshaw is really one of the unsung heroes of the competition – he’s a terrific player. When they’re on song, with their midfield getting the ball to them, they’re a tough match-up, and obviously they took the points on our backline tonight.”
