MELBOURNE’S senior coach Simon Goodwin has described his team’s Round 5 loss as an uncharacteristic display.
The Demons fell to the Bombers on Saturday night, defeated by 27 points in wet conditions at Adelaide Oval.
“The best way I can sum it up is it wasn’t us,” Goodwin told media post-match.
“We know we play our best footy in a contest pressure-type of game, but that wasn’t us today.”
During the first quarter, Melbourne stayed within reach of Essendon on the scoreboard, down by just eight points at the opening break.
But the Demons were unable to match the Bombers' high intensity in the second and third terms, conceding seven goals and opening up a 36-point margin at the final break.
“You’ve got to give Essendon credit,” Goodwin said.
“Sides are on the up and Essendon is one of those sides. They were cleaner, they were harder, they won more critical contests.
“It’s not too often you can say ‘the opposition looked like scoring most times’, that’s rare for us.
Melbourne has a nine-day turnaround ahead of its ANZAC Day Eve clash against Richmond on Monday 24 April, with the extended week presenting as an opportunity for the group to reflect and reset for the Round 6 clash.
“We’ll just get back to work and continue to forge ahead,” Goodwin said.
“That’s what this competition’s about, it’s not smooth sailing.
“We’ll analyse [the loss]. We’ve got a fantastic coaching group that will go away and have a look and come up with some things of how we improve.
“There’ll be an intensity in how we train, we’ve got some things we want to work on, so we’ll get to work and get better.”
