Paul Roos declares Melbourne’s crashing of Corey Enright’s 300th-game party the best win of his tenure

PAUL Roos has declared his team’s crashing of Corey Enright’s 300th-game party the best win of his tenure at Melbourne.

AFL Round 12. Geelong vs Melbourne at Simonds Stadium. A happy Nathan Jones and Jeremy Howe after todays win over Geelong . Pic: Michael Klein

PAUL Roos has declared his team’s crashing of Corey Enright’s 300th-game party the best win of his tenure at Melbourne.

The Demons were heroic, kicking five goals to two in the final quarter to score a brilliant 24-point win.

On a day when Geelong was celebrating only the third player in the club’s history to reach the 300-game milestone, it was Roos’ team that played with purpose and direction from start to finish.

“As a Melbourne coach, definitely,” Roos said when asked about the significance of the win.

MATCH REPORT: DEES GATECRASH ENRIGHT’S PARTY

“We’ve got so much respect, as everyone does, for Geelong and what they’ve been able to do as a footy club over many, many years.

“They’ve still got some great warriors playing, they’re a terrific contested footy team, as they have been over the years.

“The way they play their football everyone loves. So for us to come down here is a fantastic win and we’ve probably got seven or eight out of the team as well.”

Roos was particularly pleased his players were able to bounce back from last week’s horror last-minute loss to St Kilda.

Max Gawn had a fantastic games against the Cats. Picture: Michael Klein

And he hoped the victory would be a turning point for his players’ belief in the system and game style.

“For us to bounce back today after a bad 41 seconds last week, we think we have been competitive the last two weeks but we just haven’t been able to win,” Roos said.

“Hopefully this gives the belief to the players that we are on the right track.’’

The Melbourne midfield was dominant with captain Nathan Jones and Bernie Vince combining for 73 possessions, while Jack Viney held Joel Selwood and ruckman Max Gawn played the game of his life.

“Our mids were terrific, just the ability to keep cracking in for 120 minutes,” Roos said.

“It’s not just the numbers, but I thought at crucial times when they got back into it there was a tackle, a tough contested ball that they won and we started to get the ball forward.

“(Gawn) was fantastic. I thought our bigs were really really significant.”

Viney’s blanketing job on Selwood — he had 28 disposals to the Geelong captain’s 16 — was crucial.

“His ability to win his own footy is important, we talked about it a lot,” Roos said.

“You can’t really have a run-with player now that doesn’t get the football. To have someone like Jack that gets the ball and then keeps Joel reasonably under control is significant.”

Originally published as Paul Roos declares Melbourne’s crashing of Corey Enright’s 300th-game party the best win of his tenure