Brisbane Lions coach Chris Fagan questioned whether his players listened to his warning about the Sydney Swans following their qualifying final loss at the SCG.
The Swans ran out winners by 53 points, with Fagan accepting they were better in several departments.
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But he was well aware of the threat posed by the Swans, despite the club missing five suspended players.
Fagan revealed he sent a warning to his team and tried to convince his players that it would be a difficult game, regardless of the Swans’ absentees.
“I’m not sure my players believed me,” Fagan said in his post-match press conference.
“To be honest with you, I tried very hard this week to convince our players it was going to be a tough game … but somewhere back in the deep recesses of their mind, I just wonder whether they thought it was going to be as hard as what it was.
”Sydney was magnificent. They won because they were tougher, harder, they ran harder, they used the ball well.
“They were excellent and they should be really proud of their effort, and I’m sure they will be.
“We’re not. We’ve got work to do.”
The Swans were without Isaac Heeney, Chad Warner, Nick Blakey, James Jordon and Riley Bice after they were stood down for the remainder of the season for breaching club standards last month.
But Dean Cox’s side showed why they finished second on the ladder, just as they did in their final match of the regular season as they beat North Melbourne.
“We talked about, ‘Did you really think Sydney was going to be that good or did you think it was maybe going to be a walk in the park?’” Fagan continued.
”Because that’s how it had been painted by all and sundry that’s following football, and probably quite rightly so, but you can never underestimate the human spirit.
”And that’s what Sydney showed tonight, they showed human spirit, backs against the wall, playing against a team that’s been in pretty good form, and they gave us a football lesson.”
Brisbane’s heavy defeat set a new record with the 141 points scored by the Swans the most conceded by a Fagan team in finals games.
Next the Swans will take on the winner of Fremantle vs Geelong for a place in the grand final, while Brisbane must overcome the Adelaide Crows to reach the preliminary final.