COACH-in-waiting Simon Goodwin says he was delighted by his side’s ability to fightback, after it trailed by 30 points against Port Adelaide at Elizabeth on Saturday

Melbourne eventually defeated the Power by 19 points, after it produced a stunning second half in its NAB Challenge opener.

“[I was impressed] with the fact that we were able to get ourselves back into the game after a slow start,” Goodwin said post-match after coaching his first official match for Melbourne.

“We just changed the flow of the game and looked a bit shaky early, and made a few skill execution errors and defensively we were a little bit poor.

“But it was great that we were able to fight our way back into the game.”

Goodwin said early on his side wasn’t “as great as we could’ve been” defensively, but it was strong around the contest.

“Around the ball, we stood up all day and I thought our pressure in the contest and our ability to win the ball was a real highlight for us – and something we’re really priding ourselves on,” he said.

“We know we need to be good at all phases of the game, but we want to be a contested ball side that’s strong around the contest. It’s something that we want to be really good at.

“We feel it’s an important element to us, as is the other phases as well … but we want to be a contested ball side, for sure.”