The Demons held on to upset the Tigers after a tense final quarter where the lead bounced around and mistakes were rife.

 

Roos, who in his previous role as Sydney Swans coach never really cared too much for pre-season glory, remained well aware of the status of the win in regards to the year as a whole.

 

But for his bruised group, which has won six home-and-away games in two years, he admitted that "every step is important" – even February triumphs.

 

"The win is sort of irrelevant but perhaps for a group that has been pretty fragile it gives them a bit of confidence, so it's probably pretty important that we hung on in the end," Roos said after the NAB Challenge match.

 

"It was probably more important for us than it was for the Tigers, to be honest, a little bit important for us from a confidence point of view that the guys have a win, even though it doesn't mean a lot but for that confidence it probably means a lot.

 

"It's hard for me to say [what it meant] because I have only just got here … from my point of view, it's more the game style, the way we play."

 

The Demons went in with an undersized forward line with glaring key position omissions such as Mitch Clark, Chris Dawes and Jesse Hogan.

 

They unveiled the electric Jay Kennedy-Harris, who kicked three final-quarter goals and stood out every time he went near the ball.

 

Roos said "time will tell" if the 18-year-old nudges into the best 22 but said he had demonstrated "good habits".

 

"He is exciting, he has done everything right," Roos said.

 

"I tend to want to keep those (young) guys out of the fray a bit but obviously we have a few guys injured.

 

"He certainly got in on his merits with a few others unable to play. I really like the way he goes about it."

 

Pleasingly for Roos was the revelation he won't have to rely solely on Nathan Jones and Jack Trengove in the midfield, with Bernie Vince, Daniel Cross, Dom Tyson and Viv Michie showing promising signs.

 

While he conceded there was still plenty to work on, he was satisfied with the intent and dedication his group showed throughout the night.

 

"We are under no illusions what this game represents for Richmond and represents for football in general," he said.

 

"You are not trying to stop them doing much, they are not trying to stop us doing much, we all know it is a very different game to round one, so we have a lot of work to do but every step is important for us as a footy club.

 

"We obviously had some goals for tonight, bearing in mind it is the first game of the NAB Cup and we were at different stages.

 

"We thought we were ready to play and that we needed to play and I thought it showed tonight, the preparation was there, intent was there and the guys were just excited about getting out and playing - and it showed."

 

Twitter: @AFL_JenPhelan