YOUNG-gun midfielder Jack Viney says Melbourne has made “massive inroads” this season, but has conceded August was a disappointing month in its 2014 campaign.  

Speaking after Melbourne’s last game of the season – a 30-point loss to North Melbourne at Etihad Stadium on Saturday night – Viney said it was his side’s best performance for several weeks.

“We were pretty competitive up until half-time and we probably should have been convincingly in front,” he said.

“They (North Melbourne) just kept scoring off our turnovers and that continued in the third quarter and we couldn’t get our scores on the board.

“The third quarter hurt us and then in the fourth quarter, we just fought it out.”

Viney said he was determined to finish the season off strongly on a personal note.  

“I didn’t want to have a bad game and leave a sour taste in my mouth for the off-season, so for me personally – and I’m sure it was the same for the other boys – we just wanted to come out and build our brand as a football team,” he said.

“I thought we had a crack and were competitive. It was just putting that polish on, which we’ll work on in the off-season and the pre-season.

“No doubt, we’ll come back as a better team.”

Viney, who had 19 touches – including 10 contested possessions – against the Roos, said he pleased with his effort.

“I played a lot at half-forward, so I did a lot of running up and down the field.” He said.

“I felt that my work rate was really strong – I didn’t fumble the ball and I made good decisions with the footy. I would’ve liked to have got a bit more involved and made a few more tackles, but I had a crack.

“I just thought my work rate was good, which I can’t complain about.”

Viney said his focus now was to rest up over the off-season before returning for a huge pre-season.   

“Roosy (coach Paul Roos) was talking about us having a massive pre-season [post-match],” he said.

“We’ve just got to work on what we need to do – and even though we’ve finished – the boys are looking forward to a bit of a break mentally and physically.

“We’re going to hit the ground running not too far away.”