MIDFIELDER Dom Tyson says he is already looking ahead to next Sunday’s clash against North Melbourne at Blundstone Arena, after Melbourne’s frustrating 13-point loss to Essendon at the MCG on Saturday.
Tyson said it was a “really disappointing” day against the Bombers, after Melbourne dropped its first match for 2016, after winning all three NAB Challenge matches and last round’s season opener against Greater Western Sydney at the MCG.
“We probably thought we had some momentum after last week, which was a really good win. In the last quarter, we came from behind and we just didn’t defend well,” he told Melbourne TV.
“They (Essendon) had an enormous amount of possession of the footy and we didn’t deny the switch and they had a lot of open men on that far side.
“We didn’t give the backs enough support and they were clunking a few marks deep, which was disappointing – we don’t like giving them up at any time of the season.
“It’s disappointing two rounds in, but we’ve got 22 rounds [to play for the season] and it’s a long year and I’m looking forward to next week already.”
Tyson said he didn’t feel Melbourne had become complacent in the build-up to its clash against the undermanned Essendon.
“We were really focused on us to be honest,” he said.
“We didn’t play particularly well last week, in terms of our game plan, so we focused on ways that we could improve our ball movement and particularly aspects of defence.
“We just didn’t bring it [against Essendon], which is really disappointing, because you expect minimum effort per week and we just didn’t give that as a collective, which is the most disappointing thing.”
Tyson, who was one of Melbourne’s better performers with 23 touches, said he was part of an engine room that was eclipsed by the Dons.
“As a midfield group, we were probably beaten – that’s disappointing,” he said.
“[I was] probably a little bit wasteful too and had a few opportunities to kick a goal, but I felt like I was in the game.
“When we were on top – we probably didn’t put the sword to them really.”
