RUSSELL Robertson returned for Melbourne against the Kangaroos on Sunday showing no ill effects of a knee injury, but it was only to be part of the most heartbreaking of the Demons’ losses in the 2007 season.

Playing his first game since round two, Robertson was convinced the Demons had their first win when Nathan Jones put them in front with five minutes remaining. The last quarter lasted over 32 minutes, just long enough for Andrew Swallow to destroy Melbourne’s hopes.

“It was very heartbreaking. I thought we had it, and I can’t believe how long that last quarter went for. I was just waiting for the siren to go, but it didn’t sound when we wanted it to,” Robertson said.

“Having said that, the game is played over four quarters, and we were our own worst enemy in the first three. We refused to get it into our forward line. We need to get it in there more than 40 times a game.”

Robertson was moving well from the goal square, showed signs of his trademark leap, and his kicking was spot on. He booted the opening goal of the game, one after the half-time siren and a third in the middle of Melbourne’s final-quarter fightback.

He had yet another tough tussle with Glenn Archer. The pair has done battle for most of the last decade when the teams meet, and with one more game for the season against each other, it could have been the last, or second-last time for the two to clash.

“I felt really good, running and jumping around. I didn’t feel the knee much at all. I was a little worried that I wouldn’t have a lot of spark off the mark with the knee, but I did, so I’m very happy,” he said.

“’Pinchy-punchy’ is always good to play on. You always get a good honest contest from Arch, and it was nice to get a couple of kicks on him, but it wasn’t a lot. We play them again in eight more games, and that will be huge. We’ve had some great battles over the years, and you have to respect him.”

After being on the sidelines for six weeks, Robertson saw first hand some of the mistakes made on the field, and can see where the improvement needs to come if a win is to follow.

“A couple of mistakes from our leaders who needed to make better decisions cost us,” he said.

“It’s a lot more obvious out on the ground, as you’re in the play, are really watching what’s happening and you ride every kick and handball. I’m absolutely exhausted after the game, even though I didn’t do much running. The whole intensity of the match takes it out of you.”

For three quarters, Melbourne struggled to get the ball forward, where skipper David Neitz and Robertson looked dangerous. After only 30 entries inside 50 last week against West Coast, getting the ball forward was again the Demons’ downfall until the last quarter.

“We showed we can kick goals when we move it long and quickly into our forward line,” he said.

“We need to get our structures right, and next week (against Adelaide at the MCG) when we come out have a more free-flowing game and get the ball forward as quickly as we can,” he said.

Robertson was lucky his knee injury was not worse, and has returned fully fit after kicking four goals last week in a rare run in the VFL for Sandringham.

“I had a dented bone in the knee,” he said. “I smashed the two bones together and hyper-extended it. Structurally the knee was fine, but I dented the bottom bone, so luckily they didn’t need to take any bone from my hip to fill up that hole. They just trimmed the edges of it.”

“Sandringham is great, and it was the perfect way to get an idea of where I was at with my knee. I had a lot of shots on goal, they let you enjoy your football and to do whatever you want. It was a really fun time.”