MELBOURNE coach Dean Bailey has praised his side for hanging tough and not being blown away by Geelong at the MCG on Sunday.  

The Demons outscored the Cats in the final quarter on their way to a 43-point loss that consigns them to last place on the ladder after Fremantle's western derby win.

"It was good to win the last quarter, but our opportunities in the middle of the game we really need to make the most of them," Bailey said post-match.

"There are good signs in the game. I don't think I can really question any of our players with their endeavour today. I still think they're working really hard and they're committed to each other, which is terrific.

"If we can build on that, we're moving forward, no doubt about that. The only frustration comes from where you see that players work really hard off the football to win it and there's a skill error under low pressure that costs us.

"If that's something we can improve, then the rest of it is just starting to formulate."

Although Bailey was pleased his team kicked 4.1 to 3.4 in the final term, he was still looking at the bigger picture.

"I thought our competitiveness was there, which is what we're after, but I would've liked to see some of those opportunities we created turned into something," he said.  

"If I was a Melbourne supporter or member watching today I think they're thinking the same thing.

"The effort's there, the competitiveness is there but that last kick inside 50, which we've been really trying to hone in on at training, we really need to get that better so we can score.

"I thought our guys hung in there. Their goalkicking probably helped us a little bit but I still think our blokes endeavour and our tackling and our pressure was still pretty good.

"We created turnovers, [but] we just didn't score enough from them.

"They're a team that can kick quick goals … and to our guys' credit I thought we hung in … right until the end. Aaron Davey dives and smothers a ball near the end and Cameron Bruce wins a 50-50 ball at the end of the game there.

"I think they're showing that they're prepared to play the whole game out, which is really encouraging."

Bailey lauded the efforts of skipper James McDonald to go head-to-head against Gary Ablett.

The first-year Melbourne captain managed to keep Ablett to 25 touches, although the Geelong star left the field early with a groin injury.

In the past fortnight Ablett racked up a stunning 46 and 42 disposals respectively against Adelaide and the Brisbane Lions in the past two rounds. McDonald had 16 possessions himself.

"He's a very determined bloke, Junior [McDonald]," Bailey said after Melbourne's 43-point loss to Geelong at the MCG on Sunday.

"He punches above his weight all the time. He's just got a great determination … he's fantastic."

Asked what happened at the first bounce of the day, when Ablett won the clearance and kicked a goal nine seconds into the match, Bailey said: "I dunno – that might've been the quickest goal ever, was it? Who was the bloke who got it again?"

"If you want to start a game well, I reckon that's how you start the game, straight out of the centre bounce to run down a kick a goal.

"Having said that, we got back in front in that first quarter and it wasn't until a turnover in the last minute-and-a-half in the last quarter that we lost the quarter, so I think we showed great composure to work our way back into it."

Meanwhile, Bailey was also pleased with comeback Demon Russell Robertson, who booted three goals. It was the high-leaping forward's first AFL match since rupturing his achilles against St Kilda in round 10 last year.

"When you've got a target up there that moves well [and] reads the play particularly well, that gives you a good target to go to," the coach said.

"It was just good to see 'Robbo' back playing today. He kicked three and it's probably a good game for him to get out of the way, so he can get on with the rest of the year.

"I would think that Russell's still got to improve in a lot of areas, but for him to come back and kick three in his first game I thought was good for us."