COACH Paul Roos says it’s hard to know how his team will fare in the final round against North Melbourne at Etihad Stadium on Saturday night, but he remains optimistic it can give one final crack in its 2014 campaign.

Roos said the players had been “enthusiastic” all week, but was unsure how the match could pan out.

“You don’t know how they’re going to prepare themselves between now and game time,” he said on Roos’ Views. 

“Some may tend to put the cue in the rack, but you’re hoping that’s not going to be the case. It’d be good for the club and good for the players themselves to play well against the Kangas.”

Roos acknowledged that it was a tough time of the season, when teams were out of the finals race.

“It is a difficult time of the year – there’s no question. We saw last weekend most of the bottom teams get easily beaten by the top sides,” he said.

“There is going to be a difference in talent anyway, but a lot of the bottom teams looked really tired. I thought Carlton looked tired, watching their game, and we looked tired and the Bulldogs against Sydney.

“You just hope that the players can see the end is just about there and [they give] one last effort. We really want to go out with a positive night – so that’s the hope of the coaching staff. If that happens that’d be terrific.”

Roos said all he wanted from his charges in the final round was a “recognisable game style”.

“We did that really well for a 14-week period in the middle of the year – regardless of who we were playing,” he said.

“I think that’s just dropped off, so I really want to see a recognisable game style and players being absolutely exhausted when they come off the ground at the end of the game.”

Roos said midfielders Aidan Riley and Jordie McKenzie had been rewarded for their efforts in recent times with their recall to the team this round.

“Aidan’s played a bit of footy in the seniors and he went back [to the VFL and had 39 disposals],” he said.

“Jordie’s work rate has been really good at both senior level and seconds level.”

Roos said next week would be “pretty hectic” with the club holding its player exit interviews before their annual leave, plus Melbourne’s best and fairest dinner will be held next Thursday night at Crown.

“It gets pretty hectic the final week, because you have to get the players out by a certain time, because then they’ve got to take their break – if you want to get them back early for pre-season,” he said.

“So you have to get them all out by next week and have the best and fairest, so Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday will be medical and exit interviews.

“You talk to every single player and give them an idea of what their season was like and maybe what might happen going forward.”

Roos said they were tough at times, when players were being let go, but he said they had a pretty good understanding of where they were at by the season’s end.

“They get weekly reviews from their coaches and from a performance point of view, they have a really good understanding of their own games,” he said.

“The challenge for us is: how do we get better as a club and with the list and what changes we make, but also what trades we’re going to put on the table and who we’re trying to get from other clubs?

“So there is a lot to be done between now and when I head away.”