GENERAL manager of football operations Josh Mahoney has slammed anyone for suggesting 2015 Melbourne best and fairest winner Bernie Vince doesn’t care for the club.

Following Melbourne’s two-point loss to Geelong at GMHBA Stadium on Saturday night, vision showed Vince chatting and smiling with former Adelaide teammate and now Cat Patrick Dangerfield. It came shortly after Geelong’s Zach Tuohy had kicked the winning goal after the siren.

Since then, Vince has been questioned by some critics and sections of the football public for smiling and not showing enough disappointment.

But speaking on 1116 SEN on Monday morning, Mahoney said it was “insulting” to say that Vince did not hurt enough for the club.

“I can understand people making [reference] that they don’t want to see players smiling after the game, because they’ve been emotionally involved,” he said.

“As we all are, we want to see players hurting, but it’s really insulting that there has been any link between Bernie Vince and him not dying for the club.

“He’s been here five years and I get to see it firsthand how much players hurt – and in particular on Bernie, he’s played in some games he shouldn’t have played. He played with a toe hanging off last year and played with that, so he bleeds for the club.

“On Bernie, it’s insulting really [to think that he doesn’t care for the club]. It’s right up there with some people making connections between players doing media during the week and not preparing properly for games. It’s one of those things.

“He smiles and it’s captured on vision, but there is certainly no issue from our end.”


Vince reacts after the siren following Zach Tuohy's goal (Photo: Wayne Ludbey / The AGE)

Reflecting on the loss, Mahoney said there was plenty to emerge from the match.

“We did a lot of things right. We did a lot of things that we’d like to get better, but when you’re in that range as a footy club, when you’re trying to go from an also ran type of team to aiming to be the best, you’re going to have to have some failures along the way,” he said.

“But we do know that if we keep bringing that effort and that intensity every game we play and we keep exposing ourselves to opportunities like we had on the weekend – failures will come.

“But if we learn from that, it’s going to benefit us in the long run.”