In the biggest game on the AFL calendar, the Swans failed to make their mark on the match and lost every quarter, as well as the key statistical areas, to suffer their biggest loss for the 2014 season.
Speaking to the media from the change rooms following the team’s loss to the Hawks, McVeigh struggled to put into words his disappointment.
“I’m disgusted,” the co-captain said.
“The leaders didn’t stand up, myself included; we didn’t give a yelp.
“It’s as bad of a performance as we’ve had all year, and on the biggest stage, it’s really, really disappointing.
“Not many guys won their position I wouldn’t have thought and they showed us how to be hard on the big stage and we didn’t’ cope with it.”
The Swans’ pressure and intensity, particularly the tackle count – which saw the Swans lay just 57 for the match – were the concern for McVeigh.
He said the Hawks dominated the match in terms of hardness, and said the Swans were unable to keep up.
“I think we had 20 tackles in the first half,” he said.
“We usually have 20 tackles for a quarter, and the basics of our game are what we work on really hard and we didn’t bring them.
“We weren’t hard enough early, that was probably the main thing.
“We overused the ball, our handballs were getting intercepted and we didn’t play like we wanted to do.”
Fellow club leader Rhyce Shaw echoed McVeigh’s sentiment after the match, with the defender also lamenting his team’s inability to step up on the big stage.
Shaw said the Hawks were able to jump the Swans from just after the opening bounce, and left them in their wake for the next three quarters.
“I think we probably didn’t step up to the mark,” he said.
“It was always going to be a hard game and finals are always like that and you’ve got to win the hard ball to win Grand Finals, and we just didn’t do that.
“In the first ten minutes it really showed and they put their best foot forward and we couldn’t keep up.
“I think it’s pretty much as simple as that.”
The defender also said the uncontested possession count, which saw the Hawks move forward with time and space throughout the match, was another area the Swans feel short.
“I think I saw on the big screen that they had 300 uncontested possessions, and you can’t let a side have 300 uncontested possessions and think you’re going to win a Grand Final,” he said.
The Swans will travel home to Sydney tomorrow morning following a reception with the fans at Melbourne’s Lindsay Hassett Oval in Albert Park.
Following what was the club’s most disappointing performance of the season, McVeigh said it would take some time to move on from the Grand Final loss.
“It’s going to eat at us for a while,” McVeigh said.
“It’s really disappointing, and to let your mates down is not something that you want.
“We’ll come back and we’ll get better.”
