New Melbourne coach Paul Roos says NAB Challenge win will instil confidence

NEW Melbourne coach Paul Roos was rapt that his players were able to sing their theme song.

NEW Melbourne coach Paul Roos was rapt that his players were able to sing their theme song.

While Roos played down the significance of the actual victory, he admitted it was a timely boost for the playing group.

“The win’s irrelevant, but perhaps for a group that has been pretty fragile, it gives them a bit of confidence,’’ Roos said.

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“So it was probably important that we hung on in the end. It was probably more important for us more than the Tigers, to be honest.’’

Roos said he was more interested in the way his players adapted to his game style than the blunt reality of his maiden triumph with the 14-points win against Richmond in the NAB Challenge clash at Etihad Stadium.

“We obviously had some goals we wanted to achieve tonight. Bearing in mind it’s the first game and everyone is at different stages, we thought we were ready to play and needed to play. I think that showed tonight,’’ he said.

News_Image_File: Richmond v Melbourne. Pic Wayne Ludbey, Paul Roos at three quarter time.

“The intent was there and the guys were just excited to get out there and play. And that showed.

“At least what we showed is that we’re not going to be reliant on Nathan Jones all the time, there’s not as much pressure on (Jack) Trengove and Wattsy (Jack Watts), even though he didn’t play tonight.

“You saw Bernie Vince, Daniel Cross, Dom Tyson and Viv Michie, those guys had really good games, so that helps the existing midfielders and takes pressure off them.’’

Roos said time will tell whether 18-year-old draftee Jay Kennedy-Harris, who kicked three goals in the last quarter, will hold his place for the AFL opening round.

“He’s exciting and has done everything right. I tend to want to keep those guys out of the fray a bit. But he certainly got in on his merits,’’ the Demons coach said.

“Had a few others been available he probably wouldn’t play. Is he in the best 22, time will tell. I really like the way he goes about it. He’s a really good kid, he trains hard and has good habits. If you’ve got good habits and you work hard, good things happen.

“We didn’t have a big forward line and we turned it over a bit. We had to manufacture forward entries and the way we came out of defence.

“Overall, given the personnel and given where we’re at, I was certainly pleased. I wasn’t pleased we turned the ball over a few times, but they were more skill errors from being tired.

“Look, we’ve got a lot to work on, definitely. We know where we’re at as a club.’’