THEY were “clunky”, beaten around the stoppages and not functioning well offensively, but the “spirit and heart” of the Demons was on full show at the MCG last night according to coach Mick Stinear. It was far from the clinical performance many have come to expect from last year’s grand finalists but the Demons leader paid tribute to North Melbourne for testing them across four quarters and not allowing them to play their preferred game.

“It was a good contest. I think North are a really good side and excited by what they’re doing with their team and the way they’re playing their footy,” Stinear said. “A lot of the night they were stronger around the ball and they certainly got a hold of us in clearances, particularly late in the game. “Jaz Garner was quite impressive, but we never quite got going and a lot of that was due to North and their contested game and their pressure. “We were just a bit clunky. “

Stinear said the Demons came off last week’s strong finish in Adelaide hoping to build on the momentum for the huge clash with the Roos, but North “had other ideas”.

“It was certainly a good contest, we never quite got our game going or our flow going, and that’s full credit to North but pleased that the team found a way to win,” he said. “I thought our backs did an enormous job to hold up while we weren’t functioning that well offensively, and then the team just found a way in the end and I think that’s important in this competition. “We’d certainly like to keep improving as a team and the way we move the ball particularly.”

The game was one that went beyond tactics and structures, with the players put in high-pressure situations late in the match, and being able to not only hold on, but execute is something that pleased the Melbourne coach.

“North were coming that whole last quarter and for them to get the lead and for our group to be able to respond, I think that’s really important,” Stinear said. “Not to be phased by the occasion and momentum swings and just keep your head down and keep executing.

“The last couple of minutes it was body on the lines and that takes a lot of spirit and heart to hold on like that when you’re under a pump and particularly not give away a free kick, you’ve got to keep your head and be clinical because it’s pretty frantic. “Pleased that we got the result but also we’ve got plenty of work to do, and North are going to be a very good team so we need to respect that as well.”

North Melbourne won the clearances by 10 (30-20), but the Demons out-possessed the Roos by 45 (247-202) and had more inside 50s (27-24). Despite that, Stinear said his side “overused” the handball, with a 54-46 per cent split between kicks and handballs, while the Roos had a 69-31 per cent split, leading to a goal every six entries.

“Our forward structure just felt a bit clunky throughout the game just because of our ball movement,” he said. “We were over using hands early trying to do a bit too much and then you lose predictability and our forwards don’t know whether to lead or to hold. “That sorta hurt and then our skill execution we couldn’t quite get it to advantage to our forwards.”

The way the game was going forced Stinear to throw the magnets around, which included pushing forwards Alyssa Bannan (wing), Tayla Harris (ruck) and Kate Hore (onball) all into the action. Harris and captain Daisy Pearce rotated with Pearce kicking two crucial goals at the start of the second term, then going further afield for Harris to be a key target inside 50.

“We tried to get Tayla a bit deeper just to give us a bit more of a reference because I guess we weren’t getting a lot of clean ball,” Stinear said. “A lot of it was win the contest and take it forward because North’s pressure was good so we just wanted to get a strong aerial contest deep and we thought Tayla would be able to provide that and that allowed Daisy to get up the ground a bit more. “But it was a clunky sort of night, but that’s obviously credit to North and the way they played and we’ll certainly go away and keep trying to improve.”

Stinear praised the efforts of experienced midfielder Karen Paxman who continued to compete throughout the match, and was crucial in a number of one-on-one contests late in the match. He said her “workrate” and competitiveness stood out under pressure.

“I think in the last quarter when North was really stepping things up, she was one who really returned serve and took us forward and kept her head over the ball and really pleased with the work she’s doing off-field and the work she’s doing on-field as well,” Stinear said. “It’s not easy to spend most of your career just playing onball and then you’ve got to find yourself out on the wing. It’s definitely a different perspective playing out there than hunting the ball on the inside.”

Though the game was far from perfect, the occasion was not lost on Stinear and his players, with the coach saying how lucky they were to play on the MCG and to be able to share the venue with the men’s program who also took on Sydney in a qualifying final later that night.

“It’s a great feeling to be able to drive to the footy and know you’re coming here, the home of footy and it’s a really exciting night for the club to have both our programs, our women’s and our men’s programs playing at the same venue and on such a big occasion for the men’s competition,” Stinear said.

Melbourne once again got through a fierce contest unscathed on the injury front, with only midfielder Maddison Gay coming off for some strapping, but Stinear said it was a “flare up” of a previous knee jarring, and would not result in her missing matches. The Demons next match is nine days away, with Melbourne taking on St Kilda at RSEA Park on Sunday, September 11 from 2:10pm./