GAME analyst and education coordinator Craig Jennings says his team will face another important test this round, when it takes on Port Adelaide at Adelaide Oval on Saturday night.
Jennings said the Power would be another considerable challenge for Melbourne this round, despite coming off its outstanding 29-point win over Hawthorn at the MCG last Saturday.
“They’re (Port Adelaide) a really dangerous team. They’re average winning margin is eight or nine goals, so on their day, they can really get it done. They had our measure the first time we played them [in Alice Springs in round 10] and we take a lot out of our game, in terms of planning and there are some things that we need to change up,” he told Melbourne TV.
“Really, we just want to put in the effort that we have the past three weeks. We weren’t perfect against the Gold Coast [in round 19] and we couldn’t get it done against West Coast [in round 18], but 90 to 95 per cent of that game, we really liked what we were doing. We adjusted for Hawthorn and got the result that we got.
“The boys have got to show some maturity and make sure they get it done again this weekend.”
Jennings said there were “so many positives” out of Melbourne’s first win over Hawthorn since 2006.
“The reality is that we haven’t beaten Hawthorn for a long time, but in fairness to these boys, it’s a different list and Roosy (Paul Roos) has really turned over the list,” he said.
“They’ve inherited that poor win/loss record, but what was great about the game was that Hawthorn kept coming at us, but the boys stuck with their planning and stuck with what they’re trained to do and they got across the line.
“At one stage, Hawthorn had kicked four goals in a row (the last two of the second quarter and the first two of the third term) and that’s a real danger sign against a team like Hawthorn. They can win a game in five or 10 minutes of footy, but the boys got back on the job.
“Another really pleasing thing that came out of our review is that the last three weeks, we’ve been one of the better teams defensively in the comp, which is a real focus of Roosy and implemented really strongly by Jade Rawlings.
“Teams [against us] in the last three weeks have kicked 10 goals, nine goals and 11 goals, so we’re scoring off the back of some really good defensive efforts.”
Jennings said the players had handled the win with aplomb and had quickly turned their attention to the Power.
“It’s been really enjoyable. It’s a win that had been building for a long time,” he said.
“As Jonesy (Nathan Jones) said in an interview earlier this week, they enjoyed 24 hours, but the reality of footy is that the next opponent is coming up.
“So they’ve had some really good rehab the past few days and some really good recovery … and we’ll put some stuff in place for planning for Port Adelaide this weekend.”
