Been there, overcame that. No excuses, Move on.
Fremantle coach Ross Lyon was typically blunt and pragmatic after his team had a shocker in Friday night's AFL grand final rematch against Hawthorn.
After restricting Collingwood and Gold Coast to five goals apiece in the opening two rounds, the Dockers conceded six goals in the first 17 minutes at the MCG.
The 58-point loss inevitably raises questions about a side rated as one of the premiership favourites.
While Fremantle had several key players missing, so did Hawthorn.
Lyon pointed to his first season as a senior coach in 2007 and Fremantle's bad loss to Geelong in round 14 last season to put this setback into perspective.
He remembers having plenty of detractors seven years ago when St Kilda finished ninth.
"I've been in bigger holes than this," he said.
"I will certainly never forget 2007 - people coming over the fence then, it was a pretty difficult time.
"You learn a lot of lessons about a lot of things.
"What doesn't kill you makes you stronger."
Two years later, the Saints were in a grand final.
Likewise, in round 14 last year Geelong had 30 scoring shots to Fremantle's nine at Simonds Stadium and coasted to a 41-point win.
A few weeks later, Lyon had one of his finest days as an AFL coach when Fremantle beat Geelong at the same ground in a qualifying final.
"Round 14 last year was very similar to this - conditions, attitude, effort, coaching performance," he said.
"How do you leave losses behind like that? Well we did it last year, you learn from it and you improve.
"Your effort can't be determined by results - short term ones, minute by minute, quarter by quarter or by game."
Lyon said they would not spend much time reviewing Friday night's disaster before preparing for their home match next Sunday against Essendon.
"We just look at the first 30 minutes and a little bit of the second (quarter), just to show the areas we were well-beaten in," he said.
"(But) the review is too late ... you have to get it done on the night."
The Dockers also have fresh injury problems - Garrick Ibbotson dislocated his shoulder and Chris Mayne and Michael Walters limped off with ankle problems.
Share
