Melbourne coach Paul Roos says wins are a sign Demons are improving

PAUL Roos says Melbourne’s fifth win of the season proves it is on an upward curve as the Demons overcame battling Brisbane at the MCG.

AFL Round 16 - Melbourne v Brisbane Lions at MCG, Melbourne. Nathan Jones on the run. 19th July 2015. Picture: Colleen Petch.

PAUL Roos says Melbourne’s fifth win of the season proves it is on an upward curve as the Demons overcame battling Brisbane at the MCG.

The 24-point victory handed the Demons their most successful season since an eight-win 2011, after just 10 combined wins in the past three years.

Melbourne kept Brisbane at bay through four goals to Rising Star contender Jesse Hogan, with a winnable clash against St Kilda to come.

Roos said Melbourne fans needed victories to prove they were improving, with winnable games against Carlton, GWS and Collingwood in the run home.

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He has just one more season as coach until handing over to Simon Goodwin, but believes he will leave a team that has shown real growth.

“It is a really important win for us,’’ Roos said.

“I don’t think we can undervalue it. There is no question for us to go to the market and go to members and sponsors and say we are improving, you need to see improvement,’’ Roos said.

“We had put together a five-week patch of good footy but up until today we had won one game so 2-3 is a lot better than 1-4.

“I think it shows the fans we are improving and getting better.

“I said to the players after the game we are one win up on last year with seven games to go, we need to keep improving and the best way for the players to continue to work hard is by winning. It is the catalyst that keeps you coming to training to work on your deficiencies.”

Roos believes 18 months of training on defence plus six months of work on ball movement is starting to pay off.

Melbourne forward Jesse Hogan beats Lions opponent Justin Clarke to the ball. Picture: Colleen Petch

The Demons cashed in early to establish a handy buffer and kept the Lions to only four goals despite Tom McDonald playing forward in the first half.

“I said to the players because we have been working hard on our defence for 18 months I thought it kept us in the game.

“To keep a team to four goals is a great effort no matter who you play. We have worked a lot on our ball use in and in the first half it was terrific, but then our ball use dropped off. We were still able to come away with a four-goal win.”

Melbourne will again be aggressive at the trade and free agency table, determined to bridge the gap on the ladder leaders next year.

Roos believes with a group of emerging talls, a star midfielder is the priority to combine with natural improvement in the list.

“If you look at the really good teams it’s versatility through your midfield group. We don’t want to oversell our talls ... but West Coast have such depth in their midfield group.

“So to take the next step, we have seen the difference Gary Ablett makes, and to take the next step it would be great to have an A-plus midfielder.”

Originally published as Melbourne coach Paul Roos says wins are a sign Demons are improving