JUSTIN Leppitsch has taken responsibility for the Brisbane Lions' horror loss against Collingwood, saying he has to get better as a coach.
Leppitsch looked and sounded a beaten man in his post-match press conference, describing the Lions' performance as "bizarre" and the most disappointing of his young coaching career.
The final 68-point margin told only part of the story.
In the first half, the Lions conceded 28 scoring shots to three, and trailed by 65 points at the main break.
The fact the margin wasn't in three figures was more a reflection of Collingwood's wasteful goalkicking than anything positive the Lions did.
Leppitsch said he was "shocked" by the display, had no idea it was coming and forecast a week of soul searching.
"I question everything we do, I question myself daily," he said.
"I sit there, every second, is this the right session? Are we doing the right things?
"That's my job, so obviously I got it wrong. I've got to take responsibility for that and get better as a coach and make sure I'm directing people the right way and we're focusing on the right things.
"The buck stops with me."
Leppitsch agreed the past month had undone some of the good early-season work and said talk was cheap.
"I would have thought even Collingwood would have been shocked with that level of effort and intensity and just listlessness," he said.
"It just looked like we couldn't move, it was bizarre.
"We always ask why (we've lost), and sometimes it's a load of different reasons.
"Sometimes it's fatigue, sometimes it's non-compliance. Sometimes it's just because you're not good enough as a player, plain and simple.
"That's when selections are made and careers are decided.
"We've got to decide every player and which category they fit in.
"Obviously you can't sack everybody after a loss but it was stark that we had a lot of players down.
"This is pretty poor, this is as disappointed as I've been."
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