BEN Mathews says the new roles that Melbourne’s assistant coaches have taken on are all about taking the club to the next level.

The club created different roles and responsibilities over the off-season for its assistant coaches and Mathews said it was all about adapting and looking to gain the edge.

“[My role now] is all over the field and not just in the midfield area, which was done in the past,” he said.

“Simon [Goodwin] is in control of the offense and that includes the defences, mids and forwards.

“Jade’s (Rawlings) in charge of the 18-man defence at any given time, so he’s in control of the forwards and putting pressure up in the forward line and trying to trap the ball in.

“Funnily enough, the stoppage component of the game was OK on Saturday, but we thought we let each other down in our hardness and work rate in and around the contest,” he said.

Looking ahead to Sunday’s clash at Blundstone Arena, Mathews said North Melbourne was “extremely good” with its hardness and work rate around the contest, particularly with the likes of Jack Ziebell, Nick Dal Santo, Andrew Swallow and Ben Cunnington.

He also added that Melbourne’s backs had to be on their game this week against North Melbourne’s tall key forwards, and that the red and blue’s big men had to work hard with its smalls in attack.

“Up forward, we’re looking for our key forwards to bring the ball to ground, if they’re not in marking position, so [they’ll have to] fight and scrap,” he said.

“[We want to] give those little fellas like Jeffy Garlett and Benny Kennedy, who have been really good, more opportunity at ground level.”