In golfing parlance the Australians played the hole to bogey.
Australia was probably one medal short of where it needed to be for a pass mark at the Winter Games of the XXII Olympiad in Sochi.
The three medals: (Torah Bright, silver in snowboard halfpipe; Lydia Lassila, bronze in aerials and David Morris silver in aerials) numbered the same as the Vancouver Games of four years ago. But there were some differences.
There was no gold - the first time that hasn't happened since Nagano in 1998; the 60-member team was 50 per cent bigger than the 2010 model and there was also justifiably more hype and more depth in this group.
Put simply though, the top-end results weren't as good and Australia won't finish in the top 15 countries as per the stated aim.
On overall number of medals Australia will likely be 21st or lower.
Injuries certainly didn't help.
Russ Henshaw didn't look to be going at full tilt when he finished eighth in the men's ski cross, having had a major crash at the X Games two weeks before his event while Anna Segal had been operating on one knee for close to a year, her fourth place in the circumstances remarkable.
In moguls Dale Begg-Smith's comeback, much like his bizarre airport arrival, proved all froth and no coffee but his teammates Britt Cox (fifth) and Matt Graham (seventh) are young enough to be eyeing off podium spots in Pyeongchang, Korea, in 2018.
Aerial skiing proved the major success story with two medals for the first time.
But with Lassila's expected retirement, Morris turning 30 next year and no men's program Australia must hope that the likes of Laura Peel (seventh) and Danielle Scott (ninth) step up to the next level.
Snowboarding was a mixed bag. Bright's silver was outstanding given she'd put so little time into the halfpipe but the "team outcast" issue over perceived funding and support slights to a number of riders may have been a distraction for some.
Two-time world champion Alex "Chumpy" Pullin was a big disappointment in finishing 13th in snowboard cross.
The country's top gold medal hope had just one World Cup event in preparation and came up short on the biggest stage.
Both snowboard and ski cross proved something of a graveyard for the Australians with seven athletes either crashing or getting taken out in a heat.
In part it was the unpredictable nature of the sports but in most instances a major international name actually came through and won the events, proving luck only gets you so far.
In alpine skiing, 18-year-old Greta Small showed enough to suggest some more support and investment could go a long way for someone so focused on their sport.
Similarly short track speed skater Deanna Lockett looks like one to watch.
Elsewhere it may be time to examine the skeleton program which failed to produce a top ten result.
It's yet to break through that barrier in three Games. Bobsleigh, lugers and cross country skiers receive only nominal support so their results would be as expected.
The Australians will certainly point to the quality of depth in team which indeed ran deep.
There were a total of 15 top 10 performances - up from the nine in Vancouver - and the days of "glad to be here" 40th placed finishes are a thing of yesteryear.
But with an estimated $20 million spent to prepare this team and with sports still largely foreign to a big percentage of the population it's always the medals that will do the most talking.
