MELBOURNE gained inspiration from Richmond's coming-of-age win over Hawthorn before upsetting Collingwood by 37 points at the MCG on Saturday, Demons coach Paul Roos said.

Since Melbourne defeated the Tigers by 32 points in round four, Roos has been so impressed with Richmond's subsequent improvement that he mentioned it in his pre-match address to his players before they faced the Magpies.

Roos was particularly taken with the Tigers' team defence, which restricted the dual reigning premier to just seven goals on Friday night.

"We saw Richmond last night (and) we spoke about Richmond before the game, about how much improvement they've made as a team," Roos said after Saturday's victory.

"They've been terrific. They're a real (premiership) chance because of the way they're playing. They kept Hawthorn goalless for the first quarter and the third quarter.

"I like to acknowledge that to the team and then for those that have watched it, maybe it's that little spark in the brain. It might have sparked some of them to make them think, 'gee, we did beat them a few weeks ago and they're arguably playing the best footy in the comp at the moment'."

WATCH: Paul Roos' full post-match press conference

Entering the Pies' clash, Melbourne had won just five games this year and had suffered a particularly deflating defeat to St Kilda last week. 

Roos said he had handed responsibility for the team's preparation to the players, who conducted the review of the loss to the Saints, and planned training and specific focus areas for their encounter with the Magpies.

"We want the players to drive the footy club (and) get this club better as quickly as we possibly can, and to their credit today they got some reward for that," Roos explained.

Pies v Dees: Full match coverage

Best-afield midfielder Bernie Vince told AFL.com.au the players had been given ownership of their preparation previously but not to the same extent as on this occasion.

"We gave the coaches a bit of a rest because we're the ones doing it out on field. It wasn't too much different to how the coaches would do it, and we watched a lot of video, but it paid off," Vince said.

One of the many Demons to shine was much-maligned utility Jack Watts, who is enjoying perhaps the most productive period of his career. He earned warm praise from his coach, who believes Watts has found his niche as a half-forward/wingman.

"(He) played a really, really good game," Roos said of Watts' 26-possession (11 contested – a three-year high) effort.

"I'm so pleased that he's played so well and he's had a really consistent six or seven weeks of footy.

"I think today, if it's not his best game he's ever played, certainly the way he played was really important. He set the scene when he started forward, crashed in, got some balls on the lead (and) made things happen, and that continued all day.

"It's good that when we win he gets some reward (because) too often when we've lost he's the one that's been criticised. But over the last eight weeks when we've lost, everyone's left him alone because he's actually been really consistent."

Roos was proud that his charges withstood a couple of fightbacks from the Pies before kicking away.

"We spoke about that after the game – that was really key today," he said. "It's certainly been a problem for the young group, and when teams challenge us at times we've fallen apart. This year's been a lot better.

"It wasn't like they were playing that poorly. They came back a couple of times and to finish off the game really well was a big positive."

Melbourne lost the inside 50s (44-58) and clearances (33-40) but was so efficient and systematic that it appeared a different side from the one that succumbed to the Saints.

"Those that saw this week's game and last week's game, our ball movement hurt us a lot more last week. You can lose confidence doing that," Roos explained.

"We weren't super at it today but the fact the guys kept on trying and trying and trying resulted in 13 goals and some really good ball movement, which at times gave us some really easy scoring opportunities." 

Melbourne faces North Melbourne at the MCG next Sunday and will be aiming for successive wins for first time in four years.

"The players have got to enjoy (this win) because we haven't had a lot of wins over the years, but with an eye to next week," he said. "It's going to be tough bit coming off a good win hopefully we can give a good account of ourselves."