AFL GRAND FINAL

Sting of defeat to spur Dees

AARON vandenBerg was proud of Melbourne’s charge to the preliminary final, but that does not lessen the pain of loss to West Coast.

VandenBerg hopes Saturday’s crushing loss will fuel another title tilt in 2019.

The Demons became the Cinderella story after defeating perennial powerhouses Geelong and Hawthorn to book a date against the Eagles at Optus Stadium on Saturday in the grand final qualifier.

What transpired was disastrous with Melbourne becoming the first goalless team in the first half of a final since 1927 as they were belted by 66 points.

For vandenBerg, it took perseverance to get back for the past seven matches having been sidelined since the start of 2017 due to issues relating to an initial heel injury.

“It was great to get back and be among the team. It can be a difficult time in rehab and, obviously, with all the personal stuff that happened off the field as well,” said vandenBerg, who had 19 possessions against the Eagles.

“But to get the confidence to come back and play some reasonable footy and my role for the team is going to give me great confidence moving forward.

“Now it’s about getting my load management right so I can train consistently and improve my game, because at the moment I’m not training as much as I’d like.

“I think I still have more I can give to the team.”

VandenBerg watched on in the final game of last year when Melbourne lost to the Magpies to miss out on the top eight.

He has no doubt that drove them during 2018 and he hopes the loss in Perth can inspire them next year.

“I’m really proud of the group and the last eight weeks that we’ve put together as a team,” he said.

“We’ve beaten some quality opposition, but you can’t accept losing as a group.

“This has to hurt and drive us to get better and better . . . Now you have to hope when you lose a game like this that you band together and go further again.”