TWO CAPTAINS, ONE MISSION
Melbourne co-captains Nathan Jones and Jack Viney face the club’s biggest hurdle when they come up against West Coast in Perth on Saturday .
MELBOURNE co- captain Jack Viney is acutely aware the Demons must lift their game if they are to clear the biggest hurdle the group has faced.
Simon Goodwin’s men kept their 2018 fairytale going with an uneven performance in their semi-final win over Hawthorn.
Viney knows a similar display will not be enough to overcome West Coast in Perth to claim their first Grand Final berth since 2000.
“We certainly didn’t come away from that game against the Hawks thinking it was our absolute A-grade football ... we’ve got areas to work on,” he said.
“We’ve had a lot of education early this week and we’ll have another big session around that (today).
“Every week it just steps up and this will clearly be our biggest hurdle of the whole season, and really since I’ve been here.
“We’re coming up against a quality team that’s proven to be strong all year on their home ground, which will be a hostile environment.
“We know we’ve got to get back to playing our best football.”
Viney was still working his way back from a toe injury suffered in Round 16 when the Demons stunned the Eagles at Optus Stadium in Round 22 to kickstart their impressive lateseason run.
Given the changes in personnel on both sides, Melbourne is not putting too much store in what it was able to achieve in that last meeting other than the confidence gained from how it handled the travel and the hostile conditions.
After hurrying Viney’s return from a similar injury last year, the Demons took extra precautions to hold him back until the elimination final against Geelong.
That approach is paying dividends with the midfield bull’s leadership and strong work around the contest a key to his side’s stirring finals run.
“I was really focused on getting the body right and once I ticked that off I was pretty confident I would be able to go out there and perform,” he said.