MOST football lovers would know you need one ruckman and three midfielders at a centre bounce, yet in Round 24, 2011, it appeared Melbourne missed that memo.

The Demons lined up in the first ever game on Adelaide Oval, with just three players in the centre square.

And the blame falls on the coach.

“I thought I was always an innovative coach, so I decided to only go with the ruck and two midfielders in the stoppage,” Todd Viney said on the club’s Inside Melbourne podcast.

This mishap wasn’t intentional, nor too big an error, but one Viney laughs at as he reflects on his time at the helm of the red and blue.

“I’m not sure how that happened but obviously communication wasn’t the forefront, so it wasn’t a great start to the game, and we ended up losing,” he said.

Although Viney didn’t secure a permanent role, he thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to be the club's caretaker after Dean Bailey’s departure.

“It was a great experience – five games as a senior coach,” he said.

“I never thought I’d coach because I wasn’t actually an assistant coach that year.

“I decided to get out of coaching the year before, so once Jimmy Stynes – a great mate of mine – said, ‘Would you stand in for those five games?’, I said ‘Yes’.

"But it was a lot of stress for those five weeks, and only one win, so the club obviously thought we’re not making you the full-time coach.”

Listen to the full episode of the special Retro Rival Round edition of the podcast as Viney recounts plenty of old stories.