BERNIE Vince says Melbourne’s 11-match losing streak against North Melbourne is irrelevant.
Speaking at AAMI Park on Friday, Vince said the vast changes at the club meant that what had happened in the past – especially Melbourne’s 122-point loss to North Melbourne in round 18 at Etihad Stadium last year – were no longer relevant
“As a new player coming to the club, I’ve tried to forget about all our past records, because coming up against Essendon, there was a 149-point turnaround, so that got us up by one-point,” he said.
“I think this week has to be a 123-point turnaround, so why not? We’ll do it two weeks in a row.
“That’s one thing Roosy has tried to bring in – he’s tried to put the past behind us. I wasn’t part of it, so I’ve certainly put it behind me.”
Vince said the Demons were “pretty lucky” to be in the game at half-time last round against Essendon, but he was delighted to be part of the win.
He said the challenge now was to back it up with four consistent quarters against North Melbourne at the MCG on Sunday.
“We believe we can beat anyone now. We’ve proven we can match it with sides for long periods of time,” he said.
“This is the week that we really feel we’ve got an opportunity to do that and come out and win two in a row, but there’s a lot of water that needs to go under the bridge first.”
Vince said the Demons were ready for the challenge against the Kangaroos and expects them to be at its best this Sunday at the MCG.
“We just plan for them to turn up with their best footy and combat it that way, but their best is very good. We’re going to have to be right on our game,” he said.
“They’re a very offensive team. In some of the games I’ve watched, they love that outside run and they’ve got some really good runners and they’re a highly-skilled side.
“We hope it’s a little bit wet and a little bit windy and they can’t hit those targets, but certainly we’re going to have our work cut out and we’re going to have to win our inside ball. [Our] tackles and contested ball is going to be really important for us this week against a side that is a high-scoring team.”
