Dees on notice to earn respect

IT’S been a long nine days for the Melbourne Football Club, forced to stew on one of their worst AFL losses.

But redemption day arrives tonight when they face Richmond on Anzac Day eve.

The Demons threw away a handy lead against Hawthorn in round four, conceding 14 of the last 15 goals in a wretched run to lose by 67 points.

It was a significant setback for the Demons, expected to play finals this season.

And while the Tigers’ undoubted class might make it hard for Melbourne to rebound with four points, coach Simon Goodwin made it clear he won’t accept a repeat performance.

“Sometimes you want a game to come around quick so you can actually do something about it,” he said. “We’ve had nine days. “Last week we had a game that didn’t resemble the way we wanted to play. Our responsibility is to get that back.

“That might take some time but we’re looking forward to tomorrow night and making sure we get it back pretty quick.” Goodwin said he could understand if Demons’ fans couldn’t trust his team to perform after such a major fadeout.

“That’s the reality and we deal in realities,” he said.

“People can only make judgments on what they see.

“We’ll always hold that tag until we do something about it consistently.

“That’s not for one or two weeks it’s over a period of time.” The MCG have set an estimated attendance at 87,000 for the fourth staging of the Anzac Eve match, which has grown into a blockbuster in its own right.

Goodwin said drawing on the Anzac spirit was a part of his build-up.

“You certainly allow them to draw on that ... mateship is really important for us as a footy club,” he said.

“We’re going to need everyone to go about it in a manner that resembles some of that spirit. We can’t go out there an honour them but we use some of that spirit that they generate within that to lift our team.”

Dom Tyson and Jayden Hunt are expected to return for the Dees in today’s match.

Jordan Lewis is injured (broken hand), Tomas Bugg played in the VFL — effectively ruling him out — and Sam Frost faces the chop.

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