MIDFIELDER Dom Tyson says the Demons knew they had to be ready from the start of their contest against the Tigers at the MCG on Saturday – given the emotion surrounding the late great Tom Hafey, who passed away earlier in the week.

Tyson said coach Paul Roos implored his team that Richmond would be determined to ‘do it for Tommy’. But in the end, the Demons were able to match it with the Tigers and then hold on for a 17-point win – Melbourne’s third for the season.  

“Tom Hafey’s just a huge figure in football and he’ll be sadly missed, but Roosy just spoke that they’d be a lot of emotion early. He just said if we start well and we’re aggressive … they’d come out emotional and hard – and we just had to match it,” he told Dee TV.

“It was a really good result. We knew we could match it with them all day and Roosy just said ‘bring the intensity and stick to the processes’. A lot of individuals stood up today – and how good’s this [win]?”

“We’ve got plenty in the rooms and the crowd after the game was ecstatic, so that’s why you play footy.”

Tyson said the Demons had learned from falling short by 16 points against the Western Bulldogs at the MCG last round and were determined not to let it happen two weeks in a row.

“Last week, we just didn’t have that composure. We probably still made mistakes in the last quarter, but it was just our ability to rebound from them and make sure they didn’t hurt us,” he said.

“You play footy and you learn each week and we’ve learned from the game [against the] Dogs and we reviewed that well.

“We’ve come into a similar situation in the last quarter, but we’ve come out on top [this time]. We’ve just got to do the things we know we can do.”

Tyson, who has been one of Melbourne’s best performers this season, said he was relishing his time at the club, after playing 13 games with Greater Western Sydney from 2012-13.

“I’ve had good self-belief, but it’s just confidence in my body [after being injured] in the previous two years,” he said.

“Now [I’ve played] nine games this year and I’m feeling better and better each week. I’ve got more run in the legs and feeling stronger and I’m enjoying playing with these blokes.

“It’s a great club to be at – at the moment – and it’s exciting for the young players. The older players are driving us to get better and better each week, so I’m just really enjoying my footy.”