Magpies coach Darren Ryan was extremely disappointed with his side's performance in such a big match, but was adamant it could regain the form that saw it finish top of the table and bounce back in next week's preliminary final.

"At the end of the day what you do throughout the year is irrelevant," he said. "It's what you do today.

"For them (Bell Post Hill) to come out and pull us down like that was disappointing.

"But the great thing is, finishing on top of the ladder has given our young blokes a second chance and (an) experience of playing finals footy. They've come to the first finals game and dished up what you'd call a pretty average effort. No use dwelling on today. I'm pretty sure our boys won't put in another performance like that."

Despite his side's poor showing, Ryan was of the belief that much of what happened was due to the opposition.