Paul Roos previews Melbourne’s 2015 AFL season with AFL insider Julian de Stoop

PAUL Roos is demanding more improvement and greater consistency from his players as his sweeping rebuild of Melbourne moves into its second season.

Melbourne Demons Coach Paul Roos. Adam Mad Dog McDougal. Picture: Tony Gough

PAUL Roos is demanding more improvement and greater consistency from his players as his sweeping rebuild of Melbourne moves into its second season.

The Demons managed just four wins in 2014 and finished with a demoralising 10-game losing skid, but as disappointing as last season was, Roos is confident it will prove to be a valuable foundation for future growth.

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“I thought last year we got to the point where we were able to play AFL football, which is the minimum standard I talked about a lot,” Roos said.

“Now it’s about getting to that next level where we can put ourselves into games longer and win games that we perhaps lost last year.

“We’ve just got to keep improving — that’s the model for younger teams. When you’re talking to fans it’s about coming to the game every week and seeing things you hadn’t seen the week before — whether that’s an individual player or part of our game style.

Paul Roos speaks to his players during Melbourne’s NAB Challenge win over the Western Bulldogs in Ballarat. Photo by Quinn Rooney.

“For us as a footy club it’s about setting the foundations like Geelong did years ago. It’s frustrating for fans and it’s frustrating for coaches, but I really sense the players are up for the fight.”

Roos continued his extensive makeover of the playing list with a further 11 changes at the end of last year on top of the 12 he made when he first arrived at the club.

Jeff Garlett and Heritier Lumumba have already made a difference, with the Demons hopeful former Giant Sam Frost can help offset the loss of fullback James Frawley, who went to Hawthorn as a free agent.

Melbourne welcomed another two first-round draft picks in Christian Petracca and Angus Brayshaw, but were rocked by the season-long loss of No. 2 pick Petracca after he ruptured an anterior cruciate ligament at training.

There have been changes off the field too with coach-in-waiting Simon Goodwin helping reinforce Roos’ message over the pre-season.

“A big part of that improvement comes with training at a consistently elite standard,” Goodwin said.

Recruit Heritier Lumumba has been a standout for Melbourne's in the NAB Challenge. Photo by Michael Dodge.

“We’ve also worked around some things in our game plan. We want to be a team that is consistently strong in the contest, defends extremely well and then attacks well when the opportunity presents.”

Melbourne scored the fewest points of any team last season — premiers Hawthorn scored over 1100 more points across 22 games — and they didn’t break the 100-point barrier once.

Goodwin said the Demons have worked extensively on their forward setup and the way they move the ball into their front half while trying to strike a better balance between defence and attack.

Young forward Jesse Hogan figures to be a key part of that improvement up forward over time, but Goodwin said it was unfair to place too much expectation on the 20-year-old who is yet to make his AFL debut.

“Jesse is really clear on what’s expected of him,” he said.

“We certainly don’t expect him to go out there and kick four or five goals every week.

“We need him to go out there and work within a system, compete really hard, defend well and to try and win as many one-on-one contests as he can.”

Long-suffering Melbourne fans will need to continue to be patient, but with another pre-season under Roos, the Demons should show more promising signs of what’s to come in 2015.

With AAP.

Originally published as Paul Roos previews Melbourne’s 2015 AFL season with AFL insider Julian de Stoop