MELBOURNE'S recent poor record at Etihad Stadium will have little bearing on the 22 players who take the field against the Bulldogs on Friday night.
The Demons have lost their past 10 matches at the venue but coach Dean Bailey said that poor record stretches back to before many of the current crop had started their AFL careers.
"I'm not sure how many of our players have lost games at Etihad. You'd have to look to see how many of the players who played games on the weekend had lost or even played at Etihad," Bailey said.
"There are a few who have played one or two games there. We haven't played a lot of footy there in the last couple of years."
Bailey said the losing streak was a legacy of the wooden spoon finishes of 2008 and 2009 rather than a reflection of the 2011 Demons.
"We're a club that's gone 16th, 16th and 12th (in the past three years) so when you're finishing where we have I'm not sure any stats over the last three years would look promising for us," he said.
"It's just like our interstate travel, we didn't win too many games playing interstate but last year and certainly this year our travel record is better. Our players get to play more games and you would like to think our consistency at Etihad should be fine. There's no reason why we can't play well there on Friday night.
"It's a ground that should suit us, it's a quick track so that will suit us as well. I don't see any reason why we can't play competitive."
Melbourne goes into the clash with two consecutive wins for the first time since its round three and four victories over the Brisbane Lions and Gold Coast.
Bailey said he hoped the impressive performances of the past two weeks would go some way to addressing Melbourne's inconsistency that has plagued the club for much of the year.
"I'd like to think so, yeah. We need to be really consistent on Friday night. The Dogs have a great history over the past couple of years," he said.
"They've played preliminary finals and of course playing at Etihad is a real challenge for us."
Bailey said achieving that consistency came down to doing well in specific key areas.
"I don't think I hear too many coaches say every single week that contested possessions and tackling aren't important," he said.
"Our tackling on the weekend was terrific in our front half, particularly in our forward 50. We've been trying to get it right for most of the year and on the weekend we did. When we play well that's the stat that stands out for us."
Luke Holmesby covers Melbourne news for afl.com.au. Follow him on Twitter: @AFL_LHolmesby
