COACH Dean Bailey says his side must focus on two key areas, if it’s to notch up its fourth win in a row and achieve its first win over Hawthorn since round eight, 2006.
Bailey said the Demons must win the clearances and contested ball on Sunday at the MCG, if they are to end a five-match losing streak over the Hawks.
“The simplicity of our direction on Sunday is that we need to win the clearances and win the contested footy - most teams will say that every single week,” he said from AAMI Park on Friday.
“We need to make sure that we’re ahead in those two areas to give ourselves a chance, because they’re (Hawthorn) a very good stoppage team, because they’ve got very good stoppage players at the fall of the ball.
“We’ve just got to make sure we win those balls and get the ball inside 50. We’ve had teams kick inside 50 too often or too high against us and that’s been the trend unfortunately.
“We need to get inside our forward 50 and give our forwards a chance. We’ve got some speed up forward and guys who can kick long for goal, so we’re trying to look at what we can do.”
With expectation growing among the Melbourne ranks, Bailey acknowledged the players were also starting to feel the challenges emerging.
“I think players like a little bit of pressure as well and that little bit of nervousness coming into the game,” he said.
“I think that’s a great thing for our players.”
Although Bailey’s focus remains firmly on this weekend’s match, he is eager to see his side finish the season off strongly.
“If you look at our performances, it’s been in patches,” he said.
“We’ve been a bit inconsistent, but we’ve won more quarters than last year already and we’ve certainly won more games than last year, so we can only go on our performances compared to last year.
“Yes, we’ve improved and I think people would like to see - and I know we would as a football club - us really finish off in the last three weeks. Whether we can keep the form going for the next three weeks, we’ll wait and see.”
Meanwhile, Bailey said first-year Demon Luke Tapscott, who has missed much of the season with a hip injury, is more likely to debut in 2011.
“I don’t know about Luke just yet [for a potential debut in 2010],” Bailey said.
“We’ve got four or five blokes who are playing at Casey and are in pretty good form and they’re probably ahead of Luke at the moment - they’ve got form and fitness behind them.
“I think Luke’s behind those guys, but he’ll certainly be a player for us and he’ll be a great recruit for us next year.”
Bailey said the Demons must win the clearances and contested ball on Sunday at the MCG, if they are to end a five-match losing streak over the Hawks.
“The simplicity of our direction on Sunday is that we need to win the clearances and win the contested footy - most teams will say that every single week,” he said from AAMI Park on Friday.
“We need to make sure that we’re ahead in those two areas to give ourselves a chance, because they’re (Hawthorn) a very good stoppage team, because they’ve got very good stoppage players at the fall of the ball.
“We’ve just got to make sure we win those balls and get the ball inside 50. We’ve had teams kick inside 50 too often or too high against us and that’s been the trend unfortunately.
“We need to get inside our forward 50 and give our forwards a chance. We’ve got some speed up forward and guys who can kick long for goal, so we’re trying to look at what we can do.”
With expectation growing among the Melbourne ranks, Bailey acknowledged the players were also starting to feel the challenges emerging.
“I think players like a little bit of pressure as well and that little bit of nervousness coming into the game,” he said.
“I think that’s a great thing for our players.”
Although Bailey’s focus remains firmly on this weekend’s match, he is eager to see his side finish the season off strongly.
“If you look at our performances, it’s been in patches,” he said.
“We’ve been a bit inconsistent, but we’ve won more quarters than last year already and we’ve certainly won more games than last year, so we can only go on our performances compared to last year.
“Yes, we’ve improved and I think people would like to see - and I know we would as a football club - us really finish off in the last three weeks. Whether we can keep the form going for the next three weeks, we’ll wait and see.”
Meanwhile, Bailey said first-year Demon Luke Tapscott, who has missed much of the season with a hip injury, is more likely to debut in 2011.
“I don’t know about Luke just yet [for a potential debut in 2010],” Bailey said.
“We’ve got four or five blokes who are playing at Casey and are in pretty good form and they’re probably ahead of Luke at the moment - they’ve got form and fitness behind them.
“I think Luke’s behind those guys, but he’ll certainly be a player for us and he’ll be a great recruit for us next year.”
