CAPTAIN Nathan Jones says an even contribution was the key to Melbourne’s impressive 35-point win over arch-rival Collingwood at the MCG on Sunday.

Jones, who shone with 30 disposals, said the overall team performance was a strong theme to emerge from the result.

“Roosy (Paul Roos) mentioned that [it was an even contribution after the match]. Even guys that didn’t have outstanding games, they just dug in and still gave us something when it was their moment – that was the most important thing,” he told Melbourne TV.

“We had a pretty even contribution and no real standout performances. To me, that’s what makes us a strong team and we’ve been really working towards that for a long time now. It’s good to see.

“Our midfield is pretty even and [we’ve] got an even spread of goalkickers and our defensive players were terrific I thought.

“I thought Tommy Mac (McDonald) really stepped it up and I think there were a lot of positives and we’re already looking forward to Sunday night.”

Jones said his side’s outstanding first quarter, which produced six goals to one, came from the confidence gained when it almost beat the only undefeated team in the competition – North Melbourne – last Sunday at Blundstone Arena. For the record, Melbourne came back from a 42-point deficit in Hobart to fall five points short.

“We were pretty fired up to carry that momentum from last week,” Jones said.

“There were a couple of key areas we really honed in on and that played a part in getting on the scoreboard early.

“More importantly, I really liked what I saw around the ball and the guys really getting in there and cracking in and outnumbering – those were the keys. Our backs were really terrific coming off and we put the score on the board when the opportunities came. Our offensive game has really improved.”

The three-time best and fairest winner said Melbourne’s build-up to round four was also critical in its second home and away win for the season.

“The preparation we had all week off the back of a really strong performance – it was really disappointing not getting the four points last week. We really wanted to play like that again – irrelevant of the opposition,” Jones said.

“Credit goes to the boys, the coaching staff and the club for how we prepared this week. We had some terrific sessions on the track and the boys recovered really well from a tough game last week.

“We backed up again with a really strong performance, so to get the result is a huge effort for the boys. It was a real positive for us.”