A TOUGH and contested win.
That’s how Melbourne’s senior coach Simon Goodwin assessed his team’s victory over West Coast on Sunday afternoon.
The Demons travelled to Optus Stadium for what turned out to be a high-intensity clash, where the visitors battled with the home side to ultimately prevail with a 63-point win.
“It was a tough game of footy in the end,” Goodwin told media post-match.
“It was a pretty contested game…you’ve got to give the Eagles a lot of credit.
“Clearly, it’s a difficult situation to be in when you lose seven players [to injury] in a week of footy, but I thought they came out with a great intensity, and it made us lift our game.
“I thought we defended strongly in the second half and started to hit the scoreboard.”
West Coast set the tone for pressure early in the match, with Melbourne struggling to break away from the home side, the margin just four goals at half time.
Following the main break, Melbourne kicked into gear, steadying their skills around the contest and converting on the scoreboard, registering an impressive 11-goal second half.
Goodwin praised his side’s ability to wear down the Eagles, with a brand of footy he hopes the team continues to display throughout the season.
“We like to think that’s us, in our brand, that we’re hard to play against, whether that be around the ball or how we defend,” Goodwin said.
“I thought today, as the game went on, we got stronger, in our ability to defend strongly but also [our ability to] reset and get through the opposition and start to prevail at the end.
“It’s the type of footy that we want to play, for four quarters, the whole way through the game and hopefully that wears our opposition down by the end.”
An abundance of Demons had stellar performances in the win, with Clayton Oliver (34 disposals and ten clearances), Christian Petracca (29 disposals and three goals) and Brodie Grundy (22 disposals and 33 hit-outs) among the best for the red and blue.
But it was Tom McDonald’s four-goal display that had fans captivated, the tall forward returning from a one-week stint in the VFL to dominate in the West.
In addition to his quartet of majors, McDonald’s stats sheet included six marks, nine score involvements and five inside 50s.
“I was rapt for Tom,” Goodwin said.
“I think that says a lot about Tom and it says a lot about our culture that – that we’ve got a group of hungry individuals that are prepared to go back and work on their game and then come in and play some really strong AFL footy.
“You saw today that he was pretty dominant in the air when he got his chances, and that’s what we’re looking for.
“It’s a competitive team to be involved in and Tommy’s gone back and proven why he wants to be an AFL player.”
