MELBOURNE'S porous defence in the first half was chiefly to blame for its agonising three-point loss to Geelong, Demons coach Simon Goodwin says.

The Demons led by four points at quarter-time in Sunday's game at the MCG after kicking 6.1 in the opening term.

However, their lead should have been greater given their dominance of the inside 50s (18-10), clearances (16-8) and contested possessions (45-36).

It wasn't because they allowed Geelong to score eight times (5.3) from 10 inside 50s, a trend that continued in the second term when the Cats piled on 7.5 from just 14 inside 50s.

Melbourne also gave away three ill-disciplined 50m penalties during the Cats' second-quarter blitz that sent them into half-time with a 27-point led.

But it was his team's defence across the entire first half that most rankled Goodwin after the match.

"I didn't like our first half much at all. I think our ability to defend in the first half wasn't to the level that we certainly trained all summer," Goodwin said.

"Ultimately when they have 20 scoring shots from 24 inside 50s, that's the game in a nutshell. They had 80 points to half-time. We were really disappointed with that first half, we just didn't defend the way we would have liked.

"We had a lot of inside 50s and weren't really able to lock that ball in there for a period of time. They rebounded the ball 49 times from our 64 entries for the game – that's a lot.

"So there's a bit to work to do on our mechanisms of how we defend."

Prized recruit Jake Lever also endured a tough first half, the former Crow struggling to give the Demons' defence the intercept marking presence he became renowned for in Adelaide.

Goodwin was not concerned by Lever's below-par debut, saying he would improve as he became more settled in Melbourne's back six.

"I think by his own admission he probably wouldn't have been happy with his first half, but I thought he fought back really well in the second half," he said.

"(He's) obviously still understanding how we play and how we operate and the chemistry with our back six, so I'm sure he'll respond and he'll get more comfortable as he plays a bit more footy with the Melbourne footy club." 

Goodwin was far more pleased with the Demons' second half when they came within a late Max Gawn set shot of snatching victory.

After taking a towering pack mark in the game's dying seconds, Gawn had a set shot from 30m, almost directly in front. A goal would have sealed a two-point win for his team, but the ruckman pulled his kick to the left and the Cats were able to hang on. 

Goodwin had yet to speak to Gawn when he faced reporters after the match, but he backed the big man to bounce back against Brisbane at the Gabba next Saturday night.

"Players miss goals in critical situations, that's what happens in this game. We would love to see him [kick the goal] but they had a couple of opportunities themselves as well," Goodwin said.

"Max will be fine, he'll get on with it. He had a strong game in the ruck and he'll be getting himself prepared for a really strong game next week.

"That's what good players do, they rebound after a little bit of adversity."