MELBOURNE’S Nathan Jones says his side’s defensive effort was paramount in its 54-point win over Fremantle at TIO Stadium on Saturday night.
Acknowledging “an inconsistent patch of three or four weeks”, Jones highlighted the strong display, pinning the victory on an improvement of the fundamentals.
The co-captain said it was a core focus among his teammates in the lead-up.
“We just got back to valuing it and when a turnover occurred, defending it with speed and purpose,” Jones told Melbourne Media.
“Tonight, guys were working harder than ever on defence – probably harder on defence than they were on offence.
“Goody (Simon Goodwin) drove that, the leaders drove that, and we got back to really valuing that part of our game.”
Melbourne got its name back on the winners list for the first time since round 11, following losses in recent weeks to Collingwood, Port Adelaide and St Kilda.
Deemed an important game from the outset, Jones said the red and blue were on a mission to bounce back in Darwin, after a “pretty bitter” post-loss feeling last week.
“We came up here with a real intent,” he said.
“The boys took accountability for their poor performances and that flowed into the week with training and our preparation for this game.
“It was as good as it’s been all year, and it’s no surprise that we got the result we did tonight.”
But it wasn’t all smooth sailing.
Registering a total of 24 behinds, nine of which were in the first quarter, the Demons struggled to strike majors on the scoreboard.
Coach Simon Goodwin said while the accuracy was off, notching up 78 inside-50s in comparison to Fremantle’s 28 entries was a promising sign.
“Our goalkicking wasn’t ideal on the night and it’s something that you want to be quite polished in,” he said in his post-match press conference.
“But to get that sort of supply and still have 37 scoring shots, I thought that was a step forward for us.”
Jones also acknowledged his side’s ability to send the ball in, unphased by the off-line shots on goal.
“As it gets further into the night, it gets quite dewy and the boys are just pouring with sweat – it’s almost wet weather-like footy,” he said.
“The conditions here are like no other, and unfortunately we didn’t make the most of it early, which sort of snowballed as the game went on.
“But from good defence stems good offence, and albeit we didn’t kick as many goals as we’d like, we created the opportunities, and I think that’s a good sign for us.”
Melbourne now has a seven-day break ahead of its round 17 clash against the Bulldogs at the MCG.
The Demons will be looking for their first win at their spiritual home since round nine, and its second win over the Bulldogs this season – it was a 49-point victory in round 11.
