MELBOURNE’S Angus Brayshaw says his side’s ability to defend will define its season.

Suffering an 18-point loss to Essendon on Friday night, the Demons conceded 20 goals from the Bombers’ 53 forward entries, resulting in a disappointing display at the MCG.

With Melbourne yet to register a victory in 2019, Brayshaw said the team’s defensive effort is a key focus going forward.

“It’s pretty simple – there’s a huge difference between when we defend well and when we don’t,” Brayshaw told Melbourne Media.

“We’ve got to be all in it together. It’s not just the defenders; it’s the midfielders and the forwards. Everyone’s got a role to play in it.

“I think the defence will define our season.”

Melbourne showed glimpses of a whole-group effort, stringing together seven goals in a second-term blitz to hold a lead at the main break.  

But its work was quickly undone, with Essendon kicking eight unanswered majors in just 21 minutes of footy after half time.

“That second quarter was the highlight of our season,” Brayshaw said.

“We kick seven goals and keep them to one with 18 blokes on the field all buying into defence – it’s a real simple solution.

“For some reason we’re not all buying in, which is costing us.”

After struggling to hit the scoreboard last week – Melbourne had 72 inside-50s for just six goals – the Demons showed signs of offensive improvement.

Finishing with 18 goals from 11 individual goalkickers, Brayshaw acknowledged the positive from last week’s learnings.

“People watching would’ve seen a lot more lowering of our eyes going inside 50, instead of just bombing it long,” he said.

“I think our connection was better, which is what we wanted to improve on from last week.”

While the red and blue sit in 17th position on the ladder, Brayshaw said there isn’t too much concern internally.

“We know what we’ve got to do.”

“If I was standing here with no answers whatsoever, then I think we’d be in a bit of trouble, but we know exactly why we’re losing games.

“If we defend like we did in the second quarter, then we’re going to be tough to beat, so we’ve just got to keep improving in that area.”