Demons interim coach NeilCraig, who is set to make way if the ex-Sydney premiership coach say yes tocoaching the club next season, believes the 20-point loss to the WesternBulldogs to end Melbourne's dismal year shows the team has fulfilled its vow to"run to the line and play the season out".
Just one poor quarter -the second term in which the Bulldogs played superb football and the Demonssummoned nothing except some fire for a halftime melee - proved the differencein Melbourne's 16.11 (107) to 13.9 (87) defeat.
Towelled up by nine goalsto two in the term, Melbourne actually won the other three quarters.
Craig, a former Adelaidecoach who took over after Mark Neeld's sacking but has presided over just onewin, admits he has enjoyed his return to senior coaching and with the rightconditions in place, would be keen to coach the Demons fulltime.
But instead Melbourne arechasing Roos hard - and confirmation of his signing after two seasons out ofcoaching could come as early as this week.
Roos has already spoken tosenior Demons players about the prospect of coaching the club in 2014.
Craig admits the newDemons coach will have much work to do.
But he points to theaddition of boom youngster Jesse Hogan next season, the return of injured starMitch Clark, and the growth of Melbourne's younger players to better thingsahead.
"What I can say tothe Melbourne supporters is there's genuine high-performance talentthere," Craig said.
"That should givethem a lot of hope. The Melbourne Football Club is not a quick-fix, but they'redeveloping enough talent in their squad for there to be genuine hope, not falsehope."
Jack Watts booted fourgoals for the match, while Jack Grimes and Nathan Jones performed strongly forthe Dees.
Bulldogs coach BrendanMcCartney believed his young side were feeling the pinch after a competitivefinal two months of the season.
But he labelled theirsecond quarter as "scintillating footy - tough, brave, aggressive andgreat to watch".
Midfielder Tom Liberatoreand ruckman Will Minson were outstanding, Tory Dickson booted three goals andskipper Matthew Boyd had 40 touches.
The AFL match review panelis certain to slap players from both sides with fines over the ugly melee afterthe halftime siren, which spilled over the sideline and within touchingdistance of the crowd.
Bulldogs ruckman WillMinson, who had his shirt ripped off, and Demons midfielder Jordie McKenziewere among the most prominent.
The Dogs round off theiryear having won eight matches for the season.
WESTERN BULLDOGS 4.3 13.6 14.8 16.11 (107) ?
MELBOURNE 4.5 6.5 9.7 13.9 (87)
GOALS?
Western Bulldogs: Dickson 3, Hunter 2, Cooney 2, Giansiracusa2, Jones 2, Wallis, Grant, Cross, Liberatore, Minson?
Melbourne: Watts 4, Kent 2, N. Jones, Garland, Howe, Sellar, Viney,M.Jones, Dunn
BEST ?
Western Bulldogs: Liberatore, Murphy, Minson, Hunter, Boyd?
Melbourne: Trengove, Viney, Garland, Watts, Frawley
INJURIES
Western Bulldogs: Daniel Giansiracusa (ankle)?
Melbourne: Chris Dawes (calf) injured in warm-up
SUBSTITUTES
Western Bulldogs: Koby Stevens replaced Mark Austin in thethird quarter?
Melbourne: Luke Tapscott replaced Max Gawn in the third quarter
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Hosking, Armstrong, Fisher
Official crowd: 22,176 at Etihad Stadium
