COACH Paul Roos says Aidan Riley and Jordie McKenzie gave inspirational talks about their relatives who served Australia in war, in the lead-up to Melbourne’s clash against Richmond on Anzac Day eve.

Although both players are not playing for Melbourne at the MCG on Friday night, they were part of an important presentation for the rest of their teammates and squad members in the lead-up to this important fixture.   

Roos said Riley spoke about his great grandfather and McKenzie spoke about his grandfather in World War II.

“It gave us some perspective listening to those boys talk about their relatives – it was quite amazing,” he said on Roos’ Views.  

“The weekend for us – and for all clubs – is to pay their respects on the field and try and play as best footy as they can.

“I don’t draw on analogies between war and football because they’re so far apart, but it’s a chance to respect those incredible heroes that went before us.”

Roos said the fact Melbourne was playing on Friday night for the first time in two years was also an extra incentive to perform on the big stage.

“Everyone’s fighting for relevance, so to get a Friday night game is really important,” he said.

“We feel we’ve been playing really good football and we have to do that on Friday night. That’s a real big focus for us – following up on a really good performance, although we lost, but we need to do a better job this week.

“If we can play with that same intent on a Friday night, then it’ll be really important for us.”