SKIPPER Brad Green says he thought performances like Melbourne’s 45-point loss to Hawthorn at the MCG on Sunday were a thing of the past.
Speaking at AAMI Park on Monday morning, Green genuinely believed the Demons had moved on from poor showings such as their round two display.
“Yeah, I did. Where we’ve been over the last couple of years, it’s somewhere we didn’t want to go back,” he said.
“We’re looking to improve and get better and certainly that was a little hitch yesterday.”
Hawthorn smashed Melbourne with a stunning third quarter, with 19 registered scores to two.
Although Green said attempting to halt this run was incredibly difficult, he acknowledged the Demons needed to address the issue.
“When any team gets a bit of a run on, it’s hard to stop it,” he said.
“That’s where we’ve got to get control of the ball, slow it down a little bit and get it back on our terms and start working it back our way.
“That’s something hopefully we can go through this week.”
Green said coach Dean Bailey was “very disappointed” with the result, particularly the inside 50 count.
“Basically, we conceded too many inside 50s and we looked at that as a total,” he said.
“When you’re looking at 74 inside 50s and your backline is in the trenches fighting hard. It’s just too many for any side to give away, especially Hawthorn, who are going to kick a big score on you.
“I think it’s team defence and it’s across the board. We’ve got to get better as a team and work harder to stop those inside 50s.”
But the reigning club champion was pleased with the performance of second-gamer Luke Tapscott, who collected 23 touches and again impressed down back.
“It’s certainly encouraging to see guys like Tappy come into the side,” Green said.
“He’s a big bull of a thing and he’s hard-at-it and he attacks the thing like you like to see any young kid do.
“The way he kicks the ball is an asset to our backline.”
Speaking at AAMI Park on Monday morning, Green genuinely believed the Demons had moved on from poor showings such as their round two display.
“Yeah, I did. Where we’ve been over the last couple of years, it’s somewhere we didn’t want to go back,” he said.
“We’re looking to improve and get better and certainly that was a little hitch yesterday.”
Hawthorn smashed Melbourne with a stunning third quarter, with 19 registered scores to two.
Although Green said attempting to halt this run was incredibly difficult, he acknowledged the Demons needed to address the issue.
“When any team gets a bit of a run on, it’s hard to stop it,” he said.
“That’s where we’ve got to get control of the ball, slow it down a little bit and get it back on our terms and start working it back our way.
“That’s something hopefully we can go through this week.”
Green said coach Dean Bailey was “very disappointed” with the result, particularly the inside 50 count.
“Basically, we conceded too many inside 50s and we looked at that as a total,” he said.
“When you’re looking at 74 inside 50s and your backline is in the trenches fighting hard. It’s just too many for any side to give away, especially Hawthorn, who are going to kick a big score on you.
“I think it’s team defence and it’s across the board. We’ve got to get better as a team and work harder to stop those inside 50s.”
But the reigning club champion was pleased with the performance of second-gamer Luke Tapscott, who collected 23 touches and again impressed down back.
“It’s certainly encouraging to see guys like Tappy come into the side,” Green said.
“He’s a big bull of a thing and he’s hard-at-it and he attacks the thing like you like to see any young kid do.
“The way he kicks the ball is an asset to our backline.”
