"But one thing I do know is that our players, along with the rest of the players in the competition, were prepared to put their hand up to be tested for that under the guise of anonymity. And our players are the only ones that seem to no longer enjoy the cloak of anonymity. So they've been betrayed in some sense and it wouldn't surprise me if they felt that a little bit."

Buckley said the squad had only briefly discussed the issue.

"We spoke about it briefly but, to mine, we're human. Our boys are human," he said. "I hate making excuses but, in some shape or form, we were different tonight."

Buckley also confirmed bad news around Swan, who was helped from the field in the first term after twisting his ankle in a challenge with Zak Jones.

"He's broken a fibula, he's got a cracked fibula, and he's got some fractures in his foot. So it's significant," he said.