MELBOURNE coach Dean Bailey says his side's agonising four-point loss to the Western Bulldogs on Friday night was another learning opportunity for his inexperienced team.

Despite failing to kick a goal until the 13-minute mark of the second quarter, the youthful Demons showed poise beyond their years in the gallant loss.

Trailing by 22 points in a scrappy game in slippery conditions, Melbourne clawed back to lead by nine points in the final quarter before a late goal to the Bulldogs’ Ryan Griffen sealed their fate.

“We came from behind a few times ... to get in front and to get within a point or two. Those aspects of the game from a learning perspective for our players and our club to go through are very worthwhile,” Bailey said after the match.

“We didn’t come here to come second and if you look back at the aspects of the game there are things in the game we can learn from.

“The more often we get put in these types of experiences, the greater the learning, the greater the experience our players have.”

The Demons were left flat-footed early in each term as the Dogs managed to gain the ascendancy through goals in the first minute of the first three quarters.

It was a statistic not lost on Bailey who lamented at the opportunities that cost his side.

“The ability to start well against good teams is really important. The ability to start well at all is really important,” Bailey said.

“Every minute of a game is important but the fact that at times they could kick quick goals against us was concerning.”

Of some consolation to Bailey was the form of his emerging young brigade with Scully (39 possessions), Jack Trengove (26) and McKenzie all starring in the poor conditions.

“I thought Scully, Trengove and McKenzie were pretty good,” he said.

“They were in there from go to whoa, they were in at the start, in the middle of and they were persistent.”

First-gamer Daniel Hughes was also impressive, picking up 13 touches and a goal in a game that is sure to see him reach cult status among the Melbourne faithful.

It completes a remarkable journey for Hughes, who first walked through the doors of Melbourne's headquarters 1609 days ago.