Melbourne coach Paul Roos says his team ‘drastically’ changed their routine after being smashed by Hawthorn last week

MELBOURNE coach Paul Roos revealed the Demons “dramatically” changed their build-up to Sunday’s win over the Bulldogs.

AFL Round 8. Melbourne vs Western Bulldogs at the MCG. Bernie Vnce celebrates a last qtr goal . Pic: Michael Klein. Sunday May 24, 2015.

MELBOURNE coach Paul Roos revealed the Demons “dramatically” changed their build-up to Sunday’s belting of the Western Bulldogs to ensure players did not slip back into defeated mindsets.

The Demons slotted the last five goals of the match to break the 100-point barrier for just the second time under Roos and celebrate his biggest win at the club — 39 points.

The stark turnaround gave the Dees just their second win since 2007 against the Dogs and came eight days after Roos’ first 100-point loss from 231 games as coach.

At 3-5 the Dees are enjoying their best start to a season since 2011 — five senior coaches ago.

Roos said the club held a meeting on Monday to ensure the confidence of the players wasn’t smashed after consecutive poundings against Fremantle, Sydney and Hawthorn totalling 211 points.

“It was obviously a really hard three weeks playing the three best teams in the comp,” Roos said after the 15.10 (103) to 9.10 (64) win at the MCG.

“We changed the week a lot, pretty dramatically. But that’s not unusual for clubs, even the top clubs do it at times.

Bernie Vince celebrates one of his final quarter goals. Picture: Michael Klein

“We met on Monday and had a really good chat about how the week would look and everyone rallied around the players a bit.

“That (player confidence) has been an issue, no question about it.”

A frustrated Roos said last year some players would never recover from the atrocious previous eight seasons and accused his side of waiting to lose.

But Roos’ side — led by midfield workhorses Bernie Vince, Aaron Vandenberg and captain Nathan Jones — stormed clear after the Bulldogs clawed to within seven points in the final quarter.

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“I think collectively it was hard to find a bad player for us today,” Roos said.

“Our captain (Jones) was outstanding today. Jack Watts I thought had a really good game.”

The Demons out-tackled the Bulldogs 85-84 and won the inside 50, clearance, contested possession and disposal counts.

Jack Fitzpatrick shifted to defence in his return and nullified No. 1 pick Tom Boyd while Roos said ruckman Jake Spencer played his best game.

Angus Brayshaw collected 11 last-quarter disposals to help will his side to victory, showcasing the grunt and competitiveness which prompted the Dees to use last year’s No. 3 pick on him.

Vince shutdown emerging star Marcus Bontempelli and kicked two last-quarter goals to continue an impressive year where he has already beaten Trent Cotchin (Richmond) and Patrick Dangerfield (Adelaide).

Sacked Dogs coach Brendan McCartney joined the Demons as development coach last off-season and Roos credited him with helping instill a competitive edge.

Roos said McCartney was nabbed because he admired the way the Bulldogs played under him while he praised the club’s medical staff and assistant coaches for the heightened energy levels and ability to run out the match.

The Demons rested boom full-forward Jesse Hogan last week and he looked fresh yesterday, kicking three goals.

The Dees face a struggling Port Adelaide side suddenly fighting for its season in Alice Springs on Saturday but Roos said Chris Dawes (calf) and Dom Tyson (knee) were no certainties to return.

Originally published as Melbourne coach Paul Roos says his team ‘drastically’ changed their routine after being smashed by Hawthorn last week