THIS Sunday’s clash against the Gold Coast Suns is “really important to see where the group’s at” according to coach Paul Roos.

Speaking on Dee TV’s Roos’ Views, he said his team needed to back up its first win of the season with another strong effort against the Gold Coast Suns at the MCG this Sunday.

“We had a good game against Richmond in the NAB Challenge and we played pretty well against Geelong and then it fell apart the following week against the Hawks,” he said.

“I’m really looking forward to seeing the team play and hopefully they can play with the effort they did and with the adherence to our game rules that they did on the weekend.”

Roos said Melbourne’s 23-point win over Carlton last Sunday had given the players a much-needed lift after a winless start to the home-and-away season.

“When a new coach comes in with a new game style and a lot of discussions about that and how it works, players need a win to get some confidence and get some belief,” he said.

“We don’t think we’ve been playing that poorly apart from the West Coast game, but it’s just getting over the hump. Watching the game over the weekend, it was chalk and cheese to our first three games – we felt as a coaching group.

“The effort was very, very good for 120 minutes. We stuck to our structures and we stuck to what we wanted to do and the players got a great reward for it and it reinforces to them that if they keep doing those things, they can be really competitive.”

Roos said the shift of James Frawley and Lynden Dunn from the backline to attack had been a critical change that was set to continue this week against the Suns.

“It’s been significantly different. I felt it was a big change – even in the Giants game, we had someone to kick to. In the previous week against the Eagles, there was just no one to go to and without making excuses. I think we’ve seen now what a difference it is when you have two or three guys up there,” he said.

“We were certainly able to go longer and quicker – and we didn’t over possess the ball like we’d done in the first two or three weeks. It was a vastly different game style offensively.

“I’d love to keep the three of them up there – there’s no question, because I think they provide some real structure and certainty going forward. They’re three real dangerous players and a bit of a handful for oppositions, so it does make a difference.

“The main thing for us is getting our defensive processes in place and making sure we’re competitive every minute of every game.”

Roos said a decision on whether co-captain Nathan Jones would go to Ablett or Jordie McKenzie, who kept Ablett to 19 disposals in round 20 at Metricon Stadium last year, had yet to be made.

“We thought Jonesy did an outstanding job on [Marc] Murphy. Every player’s different and every week’s different,” he said.

“I think it was great for him, he helped the team. Personally, and not that I’ve seen every one of his games – I thought it was the best game he’s played for the football club. It’s certainly the most significant, I believe.

“This week’s a different week and we’ll have a look at the team and we’ll have a look at what they do well and what we want to do. Certainly, you’ve got to put some attention into Gary – he’s a terrific player, but they’ve also got [Dion] Prestia, [David] Swallow and [Jaeger] O’Meara – their midfield is really starting to develop into an elite midfield group.

“It’s going to be as much about midfield group versus midfield group, as it will be Gary versus whoever his direct opponent is.”

Meanwhile, Roos was still adamant that his lip syncing for a few words of Melbourne’s theme song was due to years of singing somewhat of a replica of ‘It’s a Grand Old Flag’.

“Well, no one believes me, except for the people at Beverley Hill [Football Club],” he said with a smile.

“The Beverley Hills theme song is the same as the Melbourne one, except the two lines about middle and late [in the song], so I was actually singing the wrong theme song.

“I guess when you’re a kid and you’ve played from about eight years old to 17 – that one’s more embedded in my mind than the Demons one, so I’ll have to practice the other two lines this week.”