CO-CAPTAIN Jack Grimes says Melbourne’s 23-point win over Carlton at the MCG on Saturday was a “line in the sand” for the club.

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Grimes suggested post-match that the win would be a reference point for the Demons in the Paul Roos era.

“We’re not going be a footy club that’s going to be satisfied with one or two good wins throughout the year. It’s not good enough and I really think today is a real line in the sand for the footy club, so moving forward, [we’ve got to] keep going as hard as we possibly can,” he told Dee TV.

It was the first time Melbourne has beaten Carlton since Grimes was at the club. And to break the drought was a huge relief for the defender.

“It was another massive day for the club and I know they haven’t been in the best of form, but we knew that we had to be right at the top of our game to be competitive and to the boys’ credit they were,” he said.

Grimes said it was important the Demons soaked up the win – and it was a message given to the players from Roos.

“Roosy’s message to the boys then was that we really need to enjoy this,” he said.

“We haven’t had this feeling much, but this is why you play footy – this feeling in the rooms – when you see the fans’ faces when you’re walking off – we haven’t experienced that much at all, but that’s footy.

“We know that a one off win means nothing and we know this gives us a bit of a taste for it – and what footy’s meant to be like. If anything, we really want this to spur the boys on and to put more work into game day, and to work even harder.”

Grimes said he was “absolutely rapt for the boys” after “a horror start to the year”. 

“The effort that they put in today – to see the reward … to see the feeling in the rooms after the game and to see them all smiling – as well as the fans, [because] they’ve been through a bit – it’s really good to break through.

“It’s a great day, but we know it’s only a very small part of the beginning of the process, so there’s a lot more work to do.”

 Grimes said it was a “pretty even contest” for most of the game, but Melbourne made the most of its opportunities in the finish.

“There were ebbs and flows in the momentum of both sides and we were probably pretty lucky at times that they had momentum and didn’t score – they could’ve put the score on and they kept missing,” he said.

“We were probably lucky at times, but the way that we stuck it out in the second half – you could feel they were trying to come and they were really trying to break the game open.

“The way the guys stuck to structures … was really good, because that’s exactly what you’ve got to do when another team’s up there.”

Grimes said the spirit level was high among the Demons at three quarter-time.

“We knew the job wasn’t done; we knew they were going to have a crack at us in the last quarter and that was the same message – we knew we couldn’t save the game.

“We couldn’t hold them off – we had to keep going at it and keep doing exactly what we kept doing. Credit to the boys – that’s what got us over the line in the end.”

Grimes, who was sporting a nice shiner under the eye after the match, said every Demon put their body on the line against the Blues.

“There were a lot of hard contests today and we’ve been second at the ball too much in the first three weeks and I thought today, we were pretty desperate,” he said.

“Credit to them and I hope they really enjoy it.”