MELBOURNE AFLW coach Mick Stinear says he got plenty out of his side’s first hit-out for 2018, despite the Demons falling three points short to Collingwood at Olympic Park Oval on Friday night.

Although Melbourne kicked six of the first eight goals – and led for most of the match – the Magpies landed the last five majors to snare victory within the last minute.

When Magpie Meg Hutchins kicked the sealer in the dying stages, the final score saw Collingwood 7.4 (46) defeat Melbourne 6.7 (43).  

Although it was a frustrating way to end the night for the red and blue, Stinear was far from disappointed, given it was a practice match.  

“We actually couldn’t see the scoreboard from where we were sitting [at the ground], so we weren’t too caught up in the scores,” he said.

“It was more about our players implementing what we’ve been practicing over the last couple of weeks.

“We’re rapt. We’ve got a good balance of positives and areas to improve, so it’s been a successful night for us.”

Stinear said the match was effectively “a tale of two halves”.

“We came in and we started well. The focus for us was our defence – really setting up our offense, off the back of a quality defence. I think the girls did that really well with some good scoring opportunities early,” he said.

“We rotated a few things at half-time and everyone who was fit and available got an opportunity.

“The first half, I was really happy with, and the second half showed up some areas where we can improve and get better. Probably one [area] was our ability to hold on and maintain possession of the footy, but they had a bit of fatigue.

“We’re really pleased, and we’ve got plenty of positives out of it, and then there are a couple of key areas to improve, so that’ll keep us busy leading into round one.”

Former WNBL player Tegan Cunningham, playing her first game, impressed in her first game with three goals. Her performance, along with some fellow recruits, caught Stinear’s eye.

“I was really happy with Tegan Cunningham up forward. That was an area we identified [we needed to improve] and full credit to Todd Patterson, our list manager [who spotted her]. She’s been able to come in and have an impact straight away,” he said.

“Maddy Guerin with her speed across the half-forward line [was good] and I thought young Claudia Whitford in the first half, playing her first proper game of footy, actually had an impact straight away.

“So, they were a couple of key ones that stood out, but there were a lot of promising signs across the board.”

Some of Melbourne’s best players were rested in the final term, as the team continues to build for the season proper, starting on Saturday, February 3 at Casey Fields, when Melbourne hosts GWS Giants.

“For Daisy [Pearce], Mel [Hickey], Paxy (Karen Paxman) and Meg Downie, they’ve had pretty high workloads, particularly Daisy, Mel and Paxy with their VFLW seasons and a couple of things in the off-season,” he said.

“So, we’re just wanting to make sure they’re going to be 100 per cent for round one, so we thought that was the best way to manage it tonight.”

Stinear said the players would freshen up this weekend, before gearing up for its season-opener.

“The girls have got the weekend off, which is good for them to enjoy some time with family and friends, after a really solid hit-out tonight,” he said.

“We come back on the training track on Tuesday and then just gear up as normal for a fortnight’s time against GWS down at Casey.”