PERHAPS Melbourne players do listen after all.
That's the only conclusion to draw from the Demons' superb effort inside their forward 50 on Sunday at Simonds Stadium.
Just two weeks after allowing Collingwood's Adam Oxley eight intercept marks at the MCG and being accused of not listening by the coach, the Demons' forwards competed like crazy inside 50 against Geelong to turn half-chances into scores.
That Queen's Birthday lesson from the coach may have been harsh but it was a lesson not lost on his group.
As the Demon talls competed, the smalls pounced.
The Demons set a competition record for 2015 in ground-ball differentials inside the forward 50 against the Cats, recording +16 (the next best for the season has been +10).
By contrast against Collingwood, they recorded -13 in the same stat.
It was a superb effort from the players and reward for the coaches who made splitting contests inside 50 a focus going into the game against the Cats.
With Chris Dawes and Jake Spencer inside 50 (neither played against Collingwood), the Demons halved or won 75 per cent (six of eight) of the one-on-one contests inside their forward 50 against the Cats.
That was an improvement on the Collingwood game, when they managed to win or halve 63.6 per cent (seven of 11) of their forward 50 one-on-ones, winning and halving just seven.
Melbourne coach Paul Roos revealed post-game how important that factor had been in turning forward thrusts into scores.
He surprised everyone when he said Jeremy Howe was one of the team's most important contributors in the first half.
That was the same Howe who failed to record a statistic in the first half.
The lead-up to Jeff Garlett's goal close to the half-time siren – when Howe spoiled a certain mark by Geelong's Mathew Stokes to create the chance – summed up Roos' reasoning.
Halve the two-on-one contest, bring the ball to ground and work like mad to make something happen.
"Our bigs' ability to bring the ball to ground was significant," Roos said.
Jeremy Howe, Nathan Jones and Chris Dawes celebrate Melbourne's win. Picture: AFL Media
It was only significant, however, because the Demons high half-forwards ran harder both ways against Geelong than they did against Collingwood to ensure they were at the fall of the ball.
That stands to reason.
Logic suggests there is much more incentive (and less risk) to run to crumb if you trust your teammates to halve contests.
On Sunday, that trust was there and the results followed.
The Demons kicked three crumbing goals against Geelong compared to just one against the Magpies.
They also scored from 41 per cent of their forward 50 entries at Simonds Stadium compared to 28 per cent against the Magpies.
The inclusion of Alex Neal-Bullen, who hunted the ball and kicked three goals, and the performance of Angus Brayshaw, who counter-attacked relentlessly, made a difference too.
With his decision to keep even numbers forward of the ball and show trust in the defence, Roos also demonstrated how his own mindset may have changed after the Collingwood loss.
"It's risk v reward because you go five v five in front of the ball, you're putting a bit of pressure on your defenders and they defended really well," Roos said.
The lessons have been piling up for the Demons over the years.
But under Roos they are finding a way to learn from them and the coach is not afraid to adjust his thinking too.
Sunday's win was the best example of that yet.
Stats supplied by Champion Data
