Source :- PERTH NOW NEWS
Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin hopes a renewed focus on pressure can be the turning point in his side’s AFL season.
And early evidence suggests it just might be.
After a horror 0-5 start, the Demons backed up their duck-breaking win over Fremantle with a 12.11 (83) to 9.9 (63) victory over Richmond on Thursday night.
At the heart of it was a dominant third quarter in which Melbourne delivered the fifth-best pressure rating of any side in the last five years.
“When you start to value the right things in the game, that’s the biggest thing, that shift of the energy,” Goodwin said.
“We were focusing on some things in the game and getting very disappointed when they weren’t happening.
“Now we’ve re-centred our focus about what’s important in the game and you can see our ability just to keep playing.
“We play with an energy, a determination, a grit and a resilience that people that have watched Melbourne over the last seven or eight years have come to know.
“That identity is starting to come back and with that, belief is starting to come back, which is a great thing for our footy club.”
It helps, too, when your big guns fire.
Captain Max Gawn was best afield against Richmond, Christian Petracca shone and Jack Viney fought tirelessly.
And after quiet first-half performances, Clayton Oliver and Kysaiah Pickett joined in to lift their side during the decisive third term.
“They haven’t spent a lot of time together in the last 12 months in terms of playing footy together, and they’ve been working on that cohesion,” Goodwin said.
“You can see they’re starting to work their way back into their best form as a group and they’re doing it together.
“Bit by bit, each individual is starting to grow their game.”
Melbourne (2-5) can continue their resurgence when they meet winless West Coast (0-6) at Optus Stadium in round eight.
