PAUL Roos says the strong performance of Melbourne’s VFL affiliate side, the Casey Scorpions, has played an important part in the senior team’s on-field improvement this year.
Casey, who is currently on top of the VFL ladder, will line up against Geelong on Sunday at Simonds Stadium.
Roos said player buy-in had played a significant role in the improved fortunes of both teams this season.
“There’s an understanding [amongst the players] of how important we see the VFL team,” he told Roos Views.
“We want our VFL team to do really well and that’s been a big part of us winning ten games this year in our AFL team.”
Roos said he was particularly impressed by the attitude of Melbourne’s senior leaders at Casey.
“We’ve got some senior players down there that are really driving the young players and still keeping high standards with their own football, so it’s great to have those guys,’ he said.
‘’I know they want to be playing senior football, but they’re contributing significantly to the football club.
‘’I’ve got to give a lot of credit to [Jack] Grimes and [Jack] Trengove. They’re playing in the VFL and they’re playing particularly well.
“They’ve been great – there are no complaints, everyone understands. I think that then translates onto the younger players.”
For Roos and his coaching department, team selection continues to be an ongoing yet welcome headache each week.
“We’ve got maybe 10 guys who could be playing in our senior team on the back of their VFL performance so it’s really difficult," he said.
“Matt Jones is another one who is playing well. Ben Kennedy has been in-and-out of the team a bit and playing good footy so there are a lot of guys.
‘’I’d also throw Lynden Dunn and Col Garland in the Grimes and Trengove basket – they’ve been terrific.”
Roos said it was important that the leaders continued to drive standards amongst the playing group.
“Nathan [Jones] has been really good and the leaders have been really good in driving each other and making sure they’re up for training and making sure they’re preparing themselves really well," he said.
“I’ve seen Nathan’s evolution over the past three years which has been fantastic.
“I think now players are most understanding of the game plan and what their roles are. They’re also more comfortable that about playing their roles and they’ve got a lot of trust in each other so the leaders have been great.’’
