Melbourne coach Neil Craig proud of his team's fight against Brisbane Lions

MELBOURNE coach Neil Craig was proud of his young team's fight, especially after losing key defender Colin Garland to injury.

Jack Viney

MELBOURNE coach Neil Craig said he was proud of the fight his side showed especially after Colin Garland left the game in the third quarter and left the Dees with just two players on the interchange bench.

"Garland has been a fantastic player for us. Not sure how many he'll miss. It's not a good strain,'' he said.

"We missed him when he came off.

"I haven't got an issue with our effort and commitment to the contest.''

Craig said the second quarter - when Brisbane kicked five goals to one - cost his side dearly.

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"It was good play by Brisbane but we turned the ball over really poorly and resulted in a strong momentum going back to Brisbane,'' he said.

"Apart from the second quarter there were some good signs to continue with.

"We've made some inroads but our capacity to stay with it it for the full game at the moment is not there.

Craig said Melbourne's improvement under his guidance was no guarantee he would win the fulltime post.

"When Mark (Neeld) left. My commitment to the Melbourne footy club after talking to Peter Jackson was for 11 weeks to be the interim senior coach,'' he said.

"My commitment there to the playing group was to coach as hard as I could and I intend to be good for my word on that.

"By that time Melbourne would have decided the type of coach that it requires. That will be time to either consider my situation. It could be a very quick decision as in that's the type of coach Melbourne want and I'm completely different to that. That's fine."

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Brisbane coach Michael Voss said it was a case of 'mission accomplished' for the Lions with the hard-earned the four points in the bag.

He said it was always going to be a slog.

"Our expectations coming into the game were it was going to be tough, it was going to get slippery, there would not be great fluent ball movement ... we made it tough for ourselves a few times,'' he said.

"We came for the four points, we got the four points and it signifies a good run of form that we are in right now.''

He said the young, under-manned on-ball division stood up to the challenge with Simon Black and Brent Moloney.

"I'm just pleased with our midfield as a group. As a group, we're talked about our depth and it's very important to continue to develop these guys,'' he said.

"In the last quarter they found something.''

Voss is still loathe to talk up Brisbane's finals chances. But he conceded next Sunday's clash with Port Adelaide is big game for the club with the Lions moving to within two wins of the eighth-placed Power.

"What we do have is an opportunity in front of us ... against a side that is around us on the ladder,'' he said.

"It's an important game. We have put ourselves into a position and given ourselves an opportunity."