Northern Blues senior coach Josh Fraser said his side’s effort and application wasn’t up to standard in Sunday’s loss to Werribee. 

While a win would’ve drawn them level on points with the top eight, Northern was blown out of the water in the final term to ultimately go down by 63 points.

Fraser said given the occasion on the weekend and what a result would’ve meant in the context of the season made the performance even more regrettable.

“It was a really disappointing day for our footy club, the performance we put forward is not one that we expect or one we want to attach ourselves to,” Fraser said.

“We were in the game at three-quarter time even though we weren’t playing particularly well, so the way the final quarter unfolded and the effort we put forward was bitterly disappointing." 

The Blues trailed by less than 20 points at each of the first three breaks, but conceded 11 majors in the final quarter to lose by over 10 goals.

Fraser said that while the Blues dealt with the Tigers’ momentum well enough in the opening three quarters, his side was never able to wrestle the ascendancy its way.

“The upside we spoke about was that we weren’t playing anywhere near our best footy but were still in the game, so we mentioned that we needed some individuals to step up,” Fraser said. 

“We didn’t get that shift but we couldn’t get the ball in our hands often enough, we weren’t bold enough when we had it and Werribee was terrific all day and deserved their win.”

The Blues were forced to come to terms of the result after lamenting a lack of effort according to Fraser, something which was addressed post-game.

“It’s an effort-based game, footy - when your effort’s not where it needs to be you get exposed very quickly,” Fraser said. 

“We didn’t think enough of our players emptied themselves out to meet that expectation: there’s some really good learning in it, that we weren’t able to step up to the plate with the opportunity that presented itself. 

“We didn’t mention that it would’ve brought us level on points, but more the fact that it was the chance to keep our season alive.”

The Blues head to Ikon Park on Saturday for their Round 18 clash with Richmond, and are now dependent on results going their way and a difficult three weeks ahead if they are to return to September action. 

Fraser said the primary focus this weekend was returning to basics and the brand of football which the Blues had delivered in patches throughout the year. 

“There needs to be a shift in mindset in how we approach the game,” Fraser said. 

“We’re always assessing and judging our boys, we’ve made some significant inroads this year - Sunday was an opportunity to take a big step and we didn’t capitalise on that.”