IN WHAT was an unusual night of footy at the Gabba, Melbourne has suffered its first loss of 2023.

There were a multitude of unexpected moments throughout the game - Max Gawn's subbing off, a fourth-quarter power outage - but the loss ultimately came down to a number of key areas, according to senior coach Simon Goodwin.

“I thought Brisbane beat us in a few areas that are really critical to the game,” Goodwin told media following the loss.

“Our centre bounce, they clearly put us under a lot of pressure [there], it was 20 to 10.

“They were a lot cleaner in and around stoppages, I thought their pressure was good around clearances.

“We need to be better, we ended up having to take a lot of territory from the opposition on a slippery night, so if they get the ball in their half on a slippery night, it makes the game incredibly tough.

“So, you’ve got to give Brisbane credit.”

When the lights went out across the stadium during the final term, with nearly 12 minutes left on the clock, Melbourne trailed by 40 points.

After almost 40 minutes of no-play and an uncertainty on the remainder of the game, the stadium lights were re-ignited as was the Demons’ energy.

Despite kicking five goals on the trot and scraping the margin back to just 11, the home team held on to take the win, handing Melbourne its first loss of the season.

Goodwin was optimistic with his team’s ability to switch their mindset during that extended break and said it would be the group’s biggest learning out of the Friday night game.

“I loved the will and the fight in our team, it was a lot to take out of that last 12 minutes,” Goodwin said.

“We just want to be a team that continues to play no matter what the situation is, no matter the scenario, just keep fighting, keep scrapping, keep trying to find a way to win the game of footy.

“That was the biggest learning out of the night – no matter where we sit in the night, there’s always going to be opportunity if you keep the right mindset going.

“That’s what our playing group did, they stayed in that mindset, and they gave themselves a chance.”