IT WASN’T pretty – in fact, at times it was downright ugly – but Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin was proud that his rising team "found a way" to overcome a plucky Carlton at the MCG on Sunday.
In what Goodwin described as the sign of a maturing team, the Demons led by four goals in the second term, only to trail by nine points midway through the third before storming home with seven of the last nine goals to post a 22-point win.
In the process, Melbourne has started a season with consecutive victories for the first time since 2005.
"It's nice to be two-zip but it's still very early in the year and we've got a lot of work to do, as you saw today. We're still evolving and developing," Goodwin told reporters post-match.
"It was great learning for our boys today. We're still a young team – (we had) 12 guys under 50 games playing today, so those guys are going to continue to grow and get better."
WATCH Simon Goodwin's full media conference
Goodwin was most pleased with his team's final quarter, in which it overran a flagging Carlton.
"(At three-quarter-time) we spoke to the players about the journey we were on and our ability to potentially not have our best day but still to play our best footy at the right time," Goodwin revealed.
"To the boys' credit, I thought they were outstanding. The way they played that last quarter, after a pretty difficult day, was really good …
"It was (about) getting back to: 'Put your strengths on show. And if you've had an average day, make it a good day.'
"I think it's a sign of a team that's starting to mature into the team that we want to become."
The Melbourne coach admitted the Blues' defensive structure caused his team much grief, and acknowledged the Demons over-used the ball, particularly early.
The Demons' lapse either side of halftime was the result of losing the contested ball and spending much of their time defending, he said.
"But in the end our players found a way to get it done, and that's the thing I'm most proud of with these guys," Goodwin said.
The coach was also pleased that his team had spread the load, with his more experienced campaigners and youngsters stepping up at different times.
"Our leaders can't play well every week. Our leaders were fantastic last week and our younger players really stepped up today," he said.
The Demons face Geelong in a massive twilight encounter at Etihad Stadium on Saturday, and they will sweat on the availability of key duo Jesse Hogan and Jordan Lewis, both of whom are certain to be scrutinised for their roles in off-the-ball incidents that felled Blues pair Sam Rowe and Patrick Cripps respectively in a fiery third term.
"I've only seen them briefly and it's hard to say. What will be will be," Goodwin said.
"It's really hard to comment on those things. I haven't seen them closely enough and haven’t seen all the angles, so we'll just wait and see how that all washes up on Monday."
In their most recent meeting with the Cats in the final round last year at Simonds Stadium, the Demons suffered a 111-point hiding.
"I'm looking forward to seeing our boys really stand up next week," Goodwin said.
