There were no excuses but livid Parramatta coach Brad Arthur also couldn't provide any explanation after the Eels' "embarrassing" 64-10 NRL Magic Round loss to Melbourne.
Arthur didn't mince words when asked to assess Parramatta's woeful 11 tries to two thrashing at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday night.
"Soft," he said.
Yet he found it much harder to provide the answer to the question every Eels fan was no doubt asking barely a week after an impressive 32-18 win over St George Illawarra - how could this happen?
"We just had a conversation (in the dressing room) and the question is 'why?', Arthur said.
"All the players are talking about 'soft, not good enough, embarrassing' but why?
"Why did we come like that? We had so much to play for."
Arthur was at least quick to rule out one reason - ongoing speculation over his future and his star players.
The Eels mentor is still sweating on a new deal while more than a dozen players are also off contract this season, including halfback Mitchell Moses and captain Clint Gutherson.
Fullback Gutherson recently expressed his frustration over his ongoing Eels contract talks but Arthur was adamant his team had not been distracted by off-field issues.
"They're professional sportspeople, we all are," he said.
"It doesn't matter once you take the field what's gone on during the week - we have to go out there and play with pride and be happy and put our best effort out there."
Adding further insult, Eels winger Maika Sivo looks set to earn the match review committee's ire after being sin-binned in the second half for a late hit on Jahrome Hughes that forced the dazed Melbourne fullback from the field.
But it seems Arthur has more pressing concerns ahead of their next round clash against North Queensland following their Magic Round capitulation.
"We went from a tough performance last week (against the Dragons) in the space of seven days to our softest performance," he said.
"You're only as good as your last game and that was rubbish. We were not prepared to play these blokes for 80 minutes."
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