MELBOURNE is refusing to overreact to its shock loss to Port Adelaide, but acknowledges its preparation was hampered by several players requiring off-season surgeries. 

The Dees made a fast start but soon found themselves in a struggle, before being overrun by the Power in the final term.

On a hot day at the MCG, Port dominated uncontested possessions 276-183.

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Among those to go under the knife were co-captain Jack Viney, brilliant onballer Clayton Oliver, mercurial star Christian Petracca, Jayden Hunt, Neville Jetta and James Harmes.

Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin praised the Power for their performance but admitted his side had been limited by injuries through the pre-season.

"We've done as much as we can in the time we've been given," Goodwin said.

"Ideally you'd love more time, but we were ready to go with what we had and we're going to continue to build throughout the year.

"We knew this was a challenge for us as a footy club. We've had a lot of guys coming off post-season surgeries, but we're going to keep improving.

"It's one week and one game. Our footy club is about how we get better every week."

That improvement will need to come soon, considering an upcoming tough clash with round one winners Geelong at GMHBA Stadium.

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"We've spent a fair bit of time getting as much load into our players as we can and we think that will hold us in good shape as we move through the year," Goodwin said.

Brilliant ruckman Max Gawn played one of his poorest games in recent memory, being worked over by Port's duo of Paddy Ryder and Scott Lycett, while also copping plenty of physical attention.

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Goodwin indicated he would look at bringing recruit Braydon Preuss into the side.

"It's something that we're used to. ‘Gawny’ gets targeted most weeks. Max will continue to get better," Goodwin said.

"He probably didn't play his best game today. We'll look to how we potentially support him better. We'll continually look at that as a match committee.

"Ultimately though, it's not something new. It's happened for a long time now. We'll just get better at it."