THE LATTER part of the season has been a difficult one for the Demons, on the back of genuine progress in the first half of 2014.

Melbourne has not won a match since round 13, when it came from behind to record a stunning one-point victory over Essendon at the MCG.

Since then, the Demons have dropped nine matches.

From rounds 16 to 20, it played Fremantle, Geelong, Port Adelaide and Hawthorn – four of the top five teams. Not surprisingly the side’s confidence has wavered since taking some heavy hits along the way.

But some disappointing performances against teams ‘around the mark’, such as the Brisbane Lions and Greater Western Sydney, have added to Melbourne’s complete frustration.

On Saturday night, coach Paul Roos revealed post-match that another reality had caught up with Melbourne in the final stages of the season, when he reflected on its drop in form in recent weeks. 

“Overall, we looked really tired,” he said following Melbourne’s 66-point loss to the West Coast Eagles at Patersons Stadium.

“We’ve probably got eight or nine guys now that look really tired [because they] didn’t have pre-seasons.

“If you don’t have pre-seasons – you get a bit of a boost during the middle of the season – but once the season comes to a close, guys that have had their full pre-seasons, they’re conditioned and they’re ready to go.

“It’s really telling on those guys that look really, really tired now at the end of the season.

“They haven’t had the work from November through to March.”

Although it must be remembered that Melbourne won four of its nine matches from rounds four to 13 – on the back of just two wins last year, its fifth worst season of all-time – Roos put 2014 in context.

“We played a good team (West Coast) on their home turf and we’ve had some really good footy this year and we’ve improved a lot. But if we’re playing a good team, it’s very hard – and it’s impossible – for us to compete,” he said.

“We don’t have a margin for error like Hawthorn [does] – it was about 30 points down at half-time and they got up [over Geelong on Saturday night]. They had a margin for error, even against the good teams. We just don’t have that margin for error.

“We’ll remain positive and keep teaching, and we’ll make some changes in the off-season and try and get better as a list.”

Reflecting on his side’s two losses to West Coast in 2014, Roos said the Demons had played the Eagles at their most in form periods.

“Round two was probably our worst game for the year, but having said that, I think we’ve caught the Eagles in their best two patches of the year,” he said.

“They started off with three wins … and I was talking to Simmo (West Coast coach Adam Simpson) about it out on the ground before [the match].

“They started the season really well and they’ve finished the season really well, so we’ve just happened to strike them when they were in really good form.”

Despite another 10-goal-plus defeat, Roos said he was pleased his side showed some spirit late in the game against the Eagles, when the margin could have blown out even further. The Demons won the final term by five points.

“It was good that we fought the game out. You’ve got two teams – one a week away from finishing and one that’s hoping to continue their season,” he said.

“I think it was pretty evident out there that the effort levels early on were really good for them and not so good for us.

“But it was important for us to at least fight the game out and put some scoreboard pressure on and close the gap a tiny bit in the last quarter.”

Still, with one more match remaining in Melbourne’s 2014 season – the Demons play the Kangaroos at Etihad Stadium next Saturday night – Roos said it was important his side finished off strongly, even though it was fatiguing.

“There’s challenges for all of the teams around the eight that can’t make the finals – you’ve really got to dig in and find ways to improve your club in the backend of the season,” he said.

“I’d say it’d be a pretty light week and we’ll just try and get the guys ready for one last two and a half hour crack.”

“Hopefully we can regroup and put in a performance next week, but certainly our guys are pretty tired.”