ALTHOUGH Melbourne got their fifth win of the season on the weekend, Melbourne coach Mick Stinear acknowledged that his side did not have things all their own way against Fremantle.

“It was very much a grind. I would say we got outworked, clearances and around the contest for the day. I feel like they’re a lot better team then performances or results have shown over the last month, so we were certainly expecting a hard game and we got that. But pleased to get the result, we were outworked. It was good we were able to find a way to get ahead in that last quarter and get the game on our terms, but prior to that very much a grind.”

The performance from the Dockers was certainly no surprise for Stinear.

“It’s their home turf and I know they’ve been frustrated over the last couple of weeks, so I know they were certainly looking forward to this challenge today, and we’ve got good history between the two clubs, and they’re coached really well by Trent and we were certainly expecting a contest and we got that. So we are pleased to walk away with the win, but I think like most teams we’ve still got work to do in the back end of the season and you just have to respect every team you play against. This competition is anyone’s, whoever wants it most on a given day will get the result.”

Despite things not going all their own way, there were some things Stinear was pleased about from his side’s performance.

“I think there was enough from them throughout the game that was pleasing. Our offence has certainly grown over recent weeks but we couldn’t quite get out team functioning at the same time until probably that last quarter. Our backs were caught on the back foot early and a bit reactionary and struggled in the conditions. Our mids were getting outworked for large periods of the game, and then our forwards were sort of out of sync and out of position, so it wasn’t really until that last quarter that we actually started to connect a bit better as a team, but that’s a credit to Freo. Their intensity was there right throughout the game, and Kiara Bowers and Hayley Miller in the midfield certainly kept our hands full, and I thought Mim Strom did a really good job in the ruck as well, so I think their mids really gave us a challenge today.”

Stinear kept reiterating that despite being in the good position ladder wise that the Dees find themselves in ladder wise, they are not content with where things sit on field.

“That’s certainly what we’re striving for and I think we are disappointed that we couldn’t achieve that today, but you do need to give credit to the opposition when they bring the intensity and they outwork you, which happened to day for large periods, but that’s out mission over the next four weeks is to get that consistency into our performance, we didn’t do that today. We did enough to win but it’s not what we want at the back end of the season. We want to be better for longer and be predictable to our team mates and our fans and our supporters at the back end of this season.”

“We’re certainly happy that I guess with the win/loss at the moment, but we’re not content with how we’re playing and where our game style is at, nor I don’t think we will be for the rest of the season. It’s something we’ve got to keep working on. We’re not chasing perfection but we certainly are chasing consistency and application of how we want to play.”