WITH 13 of 22 home and away rounds completed for the season, Melbourne now enters the mid-season break with a 6-7 win/loss record.

In comparison to last year, the red and blue entered the bye with a 4-8 win/loss ration after 12 rounds. And after 13 matches, it had a 4-9 win/loss record.

So in raw wins and losses, improvement has definitely been made.

In fact, Melbourne hasn’t won six games from its first 13 matches since 2011. 

Since coach Paul Roos was appointed in September 2013 – taking over a team, which had won just two matches for the season – Melbourne has gone from four wins (2014), seven (2015) and half-a-dozen so far, with nine matches remaining.

It’s fair to say Melbourne is on target to achieve its most wins in a season since 2006.

Eight wins each in 2010-11 remains its best season since its most recent finals series 10 years ago.

It’s a fascinating home stretch for Melbourne.

Just four of its remaining nine matches are at the MCG against the Adelaide Crows, Gold Coast Suns, Hawthorn and Carlton, with two more to be played in Victoria at Etihad Stadium (St Kilda, round 17) and Simonds Stadium (Geelong Cats, round 23).

The red and blue also has road trips to Darwin (Fremantle, round 16), Perth (West Coast Eagles, round 18) and Adelaide (Port Adelaide, round 21).

There are some great opportunities for Melbourne among these games and some genuine challenges – and it will be an exciting home stretch to see unfold.

Some of the wins so far have been particularly impressive, such as round one against Greater Western Sydney and the big stage games such as Richmond on ANZAC Day eve and Collingwood on Queen’s Birthday.

Melbourne also pushed top four teams North Melbourne and Hawthorn in the first half of the season – two sides it has battled significantly against in the past 10 years.

Naturally, with young, developing teams, there have been some disappointing losses along the way.  But given the relative evenness of the competition this year, many sides have suffered unexpected results along the way.

Six players have played their first game for Melbourne this year: Tomas Bugg, Ben Kennedy, Clayton Oliver, Josh Wagner, Jayden Hunt and Christian Petracca. Only Bugg and Kennedy had previous AFL experience.

Combine them with Angus Brayshaw, Sam Frost, Jeff Garlett, Jesse Hogan, Heritier Lumumba, Ben Newton, Aaron vandenBerg, Billy Stretch, Alex Neal-Bullen, James Harmes, Oscar McDonald and Mitch White, who all wore the red and blue for the first time last year and it only highlights the change in direction – and exciting future – of the club.

Add the likes of Max Gawn, Jack Viney, Tom McDonald, Dom Tyson and Dean Kent, who have all been at the club for three seasons or more, plus seasoned types Nathan Jones and Bernie Vince, and the club is really taking shape.

Casey Scorpions have also played a crucial role this season, with Justin Plapp’s team winning all but two matches after 10 games.

Not surprisingly, the Scorpions are on top of the ladder.

When reflecting on the first half of the season, there is plenty to be pleased about – considering where the club has been in recent years.

But there is still an exciting journey in the second half of the season, as the transition from Roos to Simon Goodwin, who is set to coach the club until at least the end of 2019, takes shape.

For Viney, who finished second to Vince in last year’s best and fairest, and is a chance to go all the way this year, he’s simply eager to keep the year going.

Although he can understand the reasons and rationale behind the bye, he’s champing at the bit to keep building on his side’s season. 

“[The bye] never comes at a good time – I always want to keep playing footy,” he said.

“I think we’re reasonably pleased with the first half of the year that we’ve had. It would’ve been nice to go into the bye with a win over Sydney, but unfortunately we’ve got a bit of a sour taste in our mouth going into the bye, which isn’t ideal.

“It’s a good week to reflect and really prep ourselves up for having a big second half of the year.”

And it promises to be an intriguing one for Melbourne.