He said the match would be dealt with in isolation and the coaches would examine whether it was a physical, mental or tactical problem that saw them blown away so comprehensively.

""As disappointed as I am, and as disappointed as I'm sure Essendon supporters and the players are, the players have done almost everything we've asked of them over the last 18 months,"" he said.

""I was very honest with our players after the game but I've got to say they've been very good.

""You can look at one loss like that and you don't forgive it because that sort of performance is not acceptable but we've got to make sure we turn up next week to play rather than bury our team.""

Hird said it would be ""drawing a long bow"" to blame the Bombers' errors against St Kilda on their new clash jumper with thirteen of the Saints' 21 goals coming from turnovers.

Hird said he didn't have any problems telling his players from the Saints, and didn't think it directly caused the Bombers to make more errors.

""I didn't [have trouble]. I'm not sure … I think it was pretty distinctive,"" Hird said.

""We certainly didn't kick the ball very well. We certainly kicked it to St Kilda more than we have done over the year … I thought their pressure was excellent and that could be the reason as well.

""I'd be drawing a long bow to blame it on a different jumper. I wish it was that easy.""

Defender Courtenay Dempsey said he didn't feel he was affected by the change in the jumper's primary shade.

""I guess the colour of it you've got to get used to but there was no mix up in identifying each other,"" Dempsey said.