FOLLOWING a 17-game winning streak, the Demons’ momentum has come to a halt.
They have been dealt three consecutive losses on the eve of the mid-season bye, and while the lapse in form has caused concern for some, coach Simon Goodwin is comfortable with the situation the club is in.
“It’s AFL footy,” Goodwin told the media after his side’s Round 13 loss to Collingwood.
“You have good momentum in-season at times where you win games on the trot, and you have times in-season where you lose games in a row.
“There’s going to be times where, as a club, you’ve got momentum and there’s going to be times where you need to arrest momentum.
“We’re at that position now where we have lost three in a row, and we need to get back to finding our best footy as quickly as possible.”
The Dees were outplayed by the Magpies on Monday afternoon, conceding nine of the last 10 goals to fall by 26 points at the MCG.
Marking the third loss in similar fashion, areas for improvement have become clear.
“We gave ourselves opportunity but clearly the turnover game went their way in the second half,” Goodwin said.
“They were able to capitalise on turnover and impact the scoreboard.
“Conversely, we weren’t.
“They mark intercepted the ball and that was really the story of the game.
“I thought we played with great heart, but our method was off.
“In the end you need all those things in sync together to get results against teams that are playing good footy.”
Following the Queen’s Birthday defeat, the Demons have a four-day break away from the club, before returning to face Brisbane in a top of the table clash next week.
And with that comes an opportunity for the group to reflect on what has gone wrong across the past three weeks.
“As coaches and players, we work incredibly hard to get our game really cohesive,” Goodwin said.
“There’s parts that are going OK, there’s other parts that we need to work on.
“We’re not going to sit here and wallow.
“We’re going to continue to work hard. [We’re] a footy club that’s in a really good position in terms of the AFL season and we’re going to work our way back into some really good form.
“We’re just not playing our best footy right at the moment.”
To hear more from Goodwin, watch the full press conference below.
