DESPITE a late fourth-quarter surge, Melbourne has suffered a disappointing two-point loss to GWS on Saturday night.

The Dees welcomed the Giants to the ‘G in what Simon Goodwin described as an inconsistent performance from the home team.

Melbourne kicked five goals in the opening term and four in the final 10 minutes of the game, but couldn’t hold off GWS for the full match. 

“It’s disappointing,” Goodwin said.

I spoke to the players about controlling what we can control and part of that is controlling our consistency in the game.

“We look at our good, our best and it’s certainly good enough, but then there’s those little inconsistencies within our game that aren’t quite there.

“So, it’s being able to control those things within our game for longer.”

05:29

RD 20 | Post-match Media Conference | Simon Goodwin

The media spoke to Simon Goodwin after Melbourne's two-point loss against GWS.

Melbourne was heading into the Round 20 match with a clear focus off the back of its loss to Fremantle – clearances.

Last week, the Dees only managed 16 clearances in comparison to the Dockers’ 47, a disappointing statistic for Melbourne, whose contest is often its biggest strength.

Saturday night saw them improve in the contest, registering 36 total clearances, but were unable to keep this as a strength for the full four quarters.

“It was something we worked on all week, was to get our clearance game back on track,” Goodwin said.

“Against Fremantle, it certainly wasn’t to the level [we wanted], and against Essendon, it was at a really high level.

“It’s a big part of our game that we need to make sure we get right.

“For most of the night it was in a good space, but in the last quarter - to lose centre bounce eight to nil, that’s a big loss.”

03:15

RD 20 | Post-match Interview | Jake Lever

We spoke to Jake Lever after Melbourne's 2 point loss against GWS.

Jake Lever, who made a solid impact against the Giants forward line, echoed the sentiment detailed by Goodwin, explaining the group’s focus on putting together consistent footy for a full game.

“For us, you look at that first quarter and it really looked like a Melbourne game of footy,” Lever said.

“If we can control what we want to control in the game, as we did in that first quarter, we’re a powerful football team.

“But right now, we can’t do it for four quarters…I can’t even think of the last time we played four quarters, so that’s our challenge.”