THE COMMITMENT shown by Melbourne in its victory over Essendon on Friday night is now the benchmark against which the rest of the season will be judged, according to Tom Scully.

The Demons have been on a rollercoaster this season. They now have four and half wins from the first 11 rounds but the highs of wins over Adelaide and Essendon have been punctuated with some heavy losses.

Scully said the past week, where the club felt under attack after several Carlton players suggested their round 10 encounter had been "bruise free" footy, had been the most difficult week of the season.

"When a club attacks your integrity and questions your commitment, I think that cut our players deep. We knew that we could come out and say, 'We are going to come out hard' but we knew that we would be judged on our actions, tonight was a great example of how committed our players are, and that sets the benchmark from now on,'' he said.

During the week, the Melbourne leadership group called a meeting of players, demanding to know what the team wanted to achieve.

"At the time, we probably weren't standing for anything, we were just going through the motions. Tonight we wanted to make a stand and show our commitment," Scully said after the match.

"The last couple of weeks we have had our backs to the wall, there has been some criticism, but to respond the way we did was fantastic. We can only be judged on our actions, so to come out tonight and play the way we did, I am really proud of all the guys."

After suffering soreness in his left knee during the summer, Scully missed the start of the season. It was revealed he was suffering from bone stress in the kneecap. Last week the 20-year-old played just 60 minutes for Casey Scorpions in the VFL and returned to Melbourne senior line-up on Friday night in sparkling form.

He gave the team more run, racked up 24 possessions and laid six tackles. His third quarter goal, kicked from 45 metres out, levelled the scores before Melbourne runaway with the contest.

"I was feeling it towards the end of the game. It is going to take me a couple of weeks to get full match fitness back. I have been working really hard with the fitness people to keep that level up. I will be sore tomorrow but I am just glad to get through."

Melbourne was further bolstered by the return of Jack Trengrove, who had served a three week suspension after a tackle on Adelaide's Patrick Dangerfield.  Demon coach Dean Bailey said the competitive nature of Scully and Trengrove had allowed the duo to return to the game in strong form despite extended absences.

"They made significant contributions during the game. They are very competitive young men. They are going to be playing a lot of football together, hopefully over the next 12 or 13 years, playing at the same club and hopefully at the end of their long careers, they are going to be very satisfied with what they delivered. They are very competitive young men."

Scully said it had been difficult to sit on the sidelines while the club was struggling.

"It's been pretty tough. The injury was very frustrating but that is part of footy. I just really worked hard so that when I did come back, I could have an impact. It just feels great to be back playing footy again."

The 2009 No.1 draft pick said it was a relief to be back on the field, finally playing football rather than being confined to the rehabilitation room.

"I am here to play footy and I just glad that I am out there doing what I love [and] to be part of the win tonight was very special."