MELBOURNE coach Simon Goodwin has urged Demons fans to continue on the journey with his side, following "instrumental" support in Friday night's elimination final win over Geelong.
Playing in front of their biggest crowd since the 2000 Grand Final loss to Essendon, the Demons' rode the distinct advantage among the crowd of 91,767, outmuscling the Cats by 29 points.
Ahead of a semi-final blockbuster against Hawthorn in seven days' time, Goodwin called on Melbourne’s supporter base to again come out in force.
"The support we got tonight was absolutely unbelievable and they played a huge part," Goodwin said.
"We said that they'd get behind a team they could believe in, and we need them again next week because they were pretty instrumental for us tonight.
"We want our supporters to come and believe in this team and inspire us to greater heights.
"We want them to be a part of this journey with us.
"We're one game in, we've got another big challenge next week, so come along again."
From the moment the Demons stepped foot on the MCG, they had their long-suffering fans on their feet.
Having waited 12 years to feature in September, the Demons got the game on their terms in the opening quarter, laying 22 tackles to Geelong's 11 while holding the Cats goalless.
"We were really hopeful we got a really good start to the game and I thought our boys handled the moment incredibly well," Goodwin said.
"Our players were adamant they were going to put their brand on show and I thought they certainly achieved that in the first quarter."
Forward Sam Weideman, one of 18 Demons playing their first final, stood up with a career-best performance in his 17th AFL match.
Partnering a busy Tom McDonald in attack, the 21-year-old clunked three contested marks among 24 disposals and three goals.
It was just his third match back in the line-up after being recalled for round 22, following Jesse Hogan's season-ending foot stress fracture.
With a Hawthorn defence minus Ben Stratton awaiting, Weideman will give Hawks' coach Alastair Clarkson plenty of headaches in the build-up to Friday night's encounter.
"He was terrific, 'Weid'," Goodwin said.
"He's done a lot of development in the VFL and it's a credit to that development program we've got… to develop his body and to develop his game to a state where he can really stand up for us in a final.
"He certainly took his moments tonight."
While the Demons dominated the second term with 17-6 inside 50's they failed to make it count on the scoreboard.
With 10 shots on goal, the Demons managed just six behinds for the term, a 23-point half-time margin flattering the Cats.
"That was frustrating, there's no question about that," Goodwin said.
"But it's also a good sign that the players kept wanting to play, they weren't getting overawed by that and they weren't getting stressed by it.
"At half-time there was a real calmness about the group about how they wanted to attack the second half."
Goodwin praised the "intensity" of co-captain Jack Viney around the stoppages, playing his first match since round 16 after an intensive five-week training program following a persistent foot injury.
