COACH Neil Craig says Melbourne simply can’t hide from the fact it became the first team to lose to Greater Western Sydney in 2013.
The Demons went down to the Giants by 37 points at Skoda Stadium on Saturday, and Craig said his team simply needed to confront the situation.
“That’s the reality of it,” he said post-match.
“What I do know is that it strengthens my resolve to continue to push hard with [the team].
“The challenge becomes bigger, but in some ways more exciting, [because of] what we’ve got. [We’ve got] to be able to push forward and make this club an outstanding footy club again.”
Craig said it was hard to compare the two teams from when they previously met in round four, when Melbourne produced its greatest ever final term to run out 41-point winners over GWS.
“With no [Chris] Dawes or [James] Frawley, it makes a significant impact on us today (Saturday),” he said.
“But that’s what you’ve got, and in two weeks' time, people won’t even know that Frawley and Dawes didn’t play in this team.”
Craig said GWS had some exciting players coming through the ranks, but he was equally upbeat about some of Melbourne’s prospects.
“They’ve got some outstanding young talent coming through, as we have,” he said.
“I thought Dean Kent [was good]. It was probably the first full game he’s played for a few weeks, and I thought he showed enough to continue with. There was some good play from Dean.
“Tom McDonald on Jeremy Cameron – I thought his effort was pretty good on a real quality player, under a bit of pressure.”