MELBOURNE co-captain Jack Viney is looking to move on quickly from Saturday’s 40-point loss to St Kilda and shift his focus to a big occasion in Round 6.
While Viney was evidently upset with his side’s performance against the Saints, he knows the response next week will be crucial.
“It’s very disappointing, I haven’t got too much more to say than that,” Viney told Melbourne Media post-game.
The Demons will have just a four-day break before running back out onto the MCG against Richmond on ANZAC Day Eve, giving them a good opportunity to bounce back immediately on the big stage.
“When you come off tough losses you almost want to get straight back out there and try to rectify it,” Viney said.
“From that point of view, we don’t have long until we get the chance to respond which is a good thing – we’ve just got to recover well.”
The clash with the Tigers is set to be an exciting one for the players, as Viney said he always looks forward to the event.
“ANZAC Eve game is a very special one,” he said.
“It’s such a special occasion and a unique atmosphere so I know the boys will be recovering their hardest and looking to put on their best football for the night.”
Viney understands there is plenty of areas to improve in order to compete with Richmond on Wednesday night, after breaking down in patches against the Saints.
“I think in the first half it felt like we were right in the game, but just in that second quarter we made some mistakes going forward with the football,” he said.
“We had turnovers in really deadly areas which made it harder to defend the football in transition.”
While Viney said the belief in the group was still there on Saturday, he admits the team will need to review the game strongly to find out what went wrong.
“Going into half-time I felt really confident we were on the right track – we just had to stick at it,” he said.
“But after half-time it felt like we really dropped away.
“They got more numbers to the contest – we’d kick it long or inside 50 and I just felt like they had more numbers there than us.
“That’s the part where I’m not too sure how it broke down, so we’ll look at that and digest it over the next day or two.”
Melbourne’s ANZAC Day Eve clash with Richmond kicks off from the MCG at 7:35pm on Wednesday night.