Paul Roos encouraged by Melbourne’s midfield depth with Jack Viney missing loss to Hawthorn

MELBOURNE’S coach Paul Roos is heartened by his midfield’s ability to cover for the absence of injured hard man Jack Viney.

Tom McDonald tries to control the ball in congestion. Picture: AAP

MELBOURNE’S coach Paul Roos is heartened by his midfield’s ability to cover for the absence of injured hard man Jack Viney.

Bernie Vince, Dom Tyson and skipper Nathan Jones claimed 99 possessions, 28 clearances and 20 inside-50s between them for the Demons who won the contested possessions count 171 to 147.

However Hawthorn kicked the only three goals of the final term to win by 18 points at the MCG after scores were level at three-quarter time.

Roos said Vince (36 touches, 11 clearances, nine inside-50s) played a terrific game on Hawthorn’s star playmaker Sam Mitchell (27, four and eight) while Tyson tallied over 30 possessions for the third time this year.

“Our midfield was really, really good,” Roos said.

“We rate (Tyson) really highly as a player. He has been pretty consistent this year.

“Last year he battled through a lot of injuries and in the previous year he was second in our best and fairest.”

Roos said if the Demons were going to miss Viney in any game “it would have been today”.

“A hard contest, big-bodied (opponents), wet, slippery,” Roos said.

“So we missed him, there’s no doubt. You miss a player like that.

“Certainly two years ago we couldn’t have covered him at all.

“At least we have more depth to go through that area.”

Dom Tyson falls into the back of Jordan Lewis. Picture: Wayne Ludbey

Viney is expected to be out for another three weeks following knuckle surgery.

Vince was reported for striking in a last-quarter incident which appears unlikely to result in a suspension.

Roos said the loss, the club’s 13th in a row against the Hawks, was a reflection of the defending premiers’ superior depth and poise in the big moments.

“Some moments where we might have gone to ground, they kick a goal, really that was the difference in the game,” Roos said.

“The effort was fantastic. As a coaching group, we were really pleased.

“We got beaten by 105 points last year against Hawthorn.

“To give ourselves a chance today to win against a high-quality team was a good effort.”

The defeat leaves the Demons with a 5-6 record ahead of next Monday’s public-holiday clash with Collingwood.

“Hopefully the fans could see today and in the first 11 weeks some real improvement and we get a really big crowd next week,” Roos said.

Originally published as Paul Roos encouraged by Melbourne’s midfield depth with Jack Viney missing loss to Hawthorn