CAPTAIN Nathan Jones says Melbourne is preparing for Gold Coast’s best at Metricon Stadium on Saturday, as the Suns will be eager to respond after going down by 120 points to Geelong at the Cattery last round.
Jones said the Suns were a “super talented side” and Melbourne was ready for their best.
“They’ve got some key players that will be looking to bounce back and we’ll be looking to try and stem that. We’ve been pretty focused on our own performance,” he told Melbourne TV.
“Not being able to execute some of the key foundations of our game last was the key theme of training [this week] and I think we’ll continue to focus on that leading into the game.
“Our best is good enough against any team, but if we don’t bring it and you’re a little bit off like last week, you can lose to anyone really.”
Although Melbourne hasn’t played at Metricon Stadium since round 20, 2013, Jones said the fact that more than half of the team hadn’t played at Carrara was not an issue.
“I think we take a bit of confidence out of the game, similar to North Melbourne earlier in the year. I don’t think anyone listed had played [an AFL match] in Hobart at the time,” he said.
“Although we didn’t get the four points, which was disappointing at the time, we put out one of our better performances for the year.
“That’s been part of the theme for the week – regrouping – and getting away together and galvanising as a group, and hopefully responding after a poor performance.
“That's what we expect to do after a disappointing display and I think that presents an opportunity this weekend up on the Gold Coast. It’ll be something the boys are excited about and keen to rectify.”
Jones said Wednesday’s training session was “intense” coming off the loss to St Kilda at Etihad Stadium last Saturday.
“We've really focused in on some of our key areas and how we wanted to play, because we didn’t execute last weekend,” he said.
“We’re looking forward to carrying that [training] form into this weekend against the Suns up there.”