MELBOURNE’S Brad Green had further pressed his claims for an All-Australian jumper but the star forward was thinking team-first after the Demons’ 29-point win over Richmond.

Green’s three goals took his season tally to 47 as the 217-game veteran again played a leading role in his side’s gritty 16.13 (109) to 11.14 (80) win.

The classy left-footer’s bomb from 52m mid-way through the final term went a long way to sealing the Demons’ third straight win and took his team a step closer to a finals berth.

While coach Dean Bailey and the Melbourne players aren’t discussing finals, Green couldn’t hide his excitement at the prospect of the club’s first finals berth since 2006.
 
“I haven’t played finals for a while, so that’s what we play footy for - finals and winning a grand final,” he said after Sunday’s win.

A top-eight berth still remains unlikely. To reach September action, Melbourne must win all its remaining matches - starting with next week’s blockbuster against Hawthorn.

“The motivation’s Hawthorn, and that’s the truth,” Green said.

“Hawthorn smacked us in round one this year, and that’s our motivation at the moment.

“We’ve just won a game. We’ll review it tomorrow and then move onto the Hawks.”

Melbourne was embarrassed in the season-opener, falling behind by 56 points at half time as it managed just one goal in its first two quarters of the year.

Green said the Demons were playing far better football now and knew what it had to do to beat the team which has had the wood on it in recent encounters.

“We were a bit disappointing [in round one], I think they smashed us by 50-odd points and we didn’t come to play that day and we’ve certainly got to come out all guns blazing,” he said.

“We’ve got to close them down, stop the ball going inside 50, shut a few of their good players down and hopefully kick a few goals to win.

“It’s one of those games where they’re going to come out really confident after how they went in round one, but we’ll see how we go.”

Melbourne’s youngsters played a pivotal part in its win over the Tigers.

While many first- and second-year players start to tire at this stage of the season, the Demons’ younger brigade came to the fore when it mattered.

Green said he expected those players to continue to prosper in coming weeks.

“The young boys have been great all year,” he said.

“They’re the excitement machines. Our young group [such as] Jordie McKenzie, Tom Scully, Jack Trengove, Jack Watts, Jamie Bennell, Austin Wonaeamirri, Liam Jurrah, those players, we’ve got a young side and they’ve got to keep gaining experience week to week.”