THE RESILIENCE and steadiness Melbourne displayed in its 30-point win over St Kilda at Etihad Stadium on Saturday is the new standard, coach Simon Goodwin has declared.
The Demons had their backs to the wall, trailing by 23 points at quarter-time, before surging back into the contest after returning to a game style they have worked on ad nauseum over summer.
Melbourne booted 16 goals to St Kilda's seven after the first change to strike first blood in the battle between the AFL's emerging sides.
"That's the challenge for us as a group. We want to play this way every week," Goodwin said.
"This is just a starting point for us. It's a long journey through a season and we have to keep our environment as consistent as we can and continue to educate our players.
"As I said to the boys at quarter-time, it was just about getting back to what we trained for all summer and getting back to the style of play that we know has been really successful for us."
Ruckman Max Gawn encapsulated the Demons' ability to produce their best football under duress, fighting through a strained back suffered in unusual circumstances, to outpoint adversary Tom Hickey.
Gawn's dominance at the hit-outs (49-18), allowed Clayton Oliver (36 disposals), Nathan Jones (35) and Jordan Lewis (32) to thrive around stoppages.
"He (Gawn) tried to punch the ball a long way away and he hurt his back. He was off the ground for a while and I thought he was just sensational (when he returned)," Goodwin said.
"He had probably 10 minutes off the ground and when he came back he was just brilliant.
"We don't want him going off 10 minutes at a time all the time to reset, but it seemed to do him wonders."
Goodwin confirmed young defender Joel Smith would miss a significant amount of time after dislocating his left shoulder in the opening term of his debut match.
"He's dislocated his shoulder, so he'll be out for a while," Goodwin said.
"It's disappointing for Joel. He's a terrific talent for us and has really emerged quite quickly.
"He'll rehab as best he can because he's showed some stuff early today."
The Demons' match committee was satisfied with how it selected its group of small forwards with a deliberate aim to apply pressure to St Kilda's defenders.
Melbourne opted to pick Jeff Garlett despite limited match practice due to a hamstring injury, forward terrier Alex Neal-Bullen and debutant Mitch Hannan for that exact reason.
"What I loved about Mitch's game was his ability to tackle. I thought that brought him into the game and he got his rewards at ground level and kicked a couple of nice goals," Goodwin said.
"We went in trying to pick a quick forward line, a forward line that could apply pressure and I thought those guys were really solid today.
"I thought Neal-Bullen was brilliant with his pressure and tackle, as was Jeffy, so those selections seemed to work."
The Demons overlooked consensus best 22 players Dom Tyson and Dean Kent for the clash, but both are available for selection against Carlton next weekend after overcoming pre-season knee and back troubles respectively.
