GAME analyst and education coordinator Craig Jennings says Melbourne’s review of its round 11 clash against Hawthorn at the MCG last Saturday showed that the red and blue did most things right, despite falling short by 18 points.

Jennings said the coaches were particularly pleased with the players’ ability to stand-up in a contested style of game against the reigning back-to-back-to-back premiers.     

“We were really happy with a lot of the aspects of the game,” he told Melbourne TV.

“Like most things, there are things we continually work on and we want to get better at.

“It was really pleasing that we went at the contest and we were right in the game, right into the last seven or eight minutes of the game.”

Jennings said it was important to understand that Hawthorn’s experience won out in the end, even though Melbourne was able to match it with the Hawks for most of the game.

“What you take out of it – when you watch a lot of footy – is that it’s very hard to beat experienced teams in close games,” he said.

“They averaged about 125 games [per player] and we were down to 65 [games per player].

“The stuff we really value at the footy club – in terms of the contest and the things that we’re working on – we’re really pleased with. A little bit of composure at the end was probably the difference.”