DYNAMIC midfielder Bernie Vince says leaving Adelaide was one of the toughest decisions he’s ever had to make in his life, but after completing his first season with Melbourne, he’s rapt to have made the move.

Speaking to Dee TV, Vince said making the move to Victoria was daunting at first but once he found his feet, he quickly felt like he belonged.  

“It didn’t take me too long to settle right in and my natural personality came out pretty early on. I get on really well with all of the boys and hopefully they like me too,” he said with a laugh.

Vince said it was a huge move for him, given he’s a proud Croweater and he always thought his football career would be with Adelaide – and he would remain in South Australia beyond his playing days.

“Being a South Australian … I was lucky enough to get drafted first of all to Adelaide and once I established myself there, I never thought I’d move out of Adelaide,” he said.

“I didn’t know what to think to start with [when I moved to Melbourne], but once I moved over and met all the boys and the guys at the footy club, I haven’t looked back and I’ve loved my time over here.

“Ideally we would have won a few more games … but we know what’s required and what the coaching staff, in particular, Roosy (Paul Roos) wants from us. I think he’s really clear and simplified what’s expected and everyone’s on board.”

Although he has now had a taste of two different AFL clubs, Vince was careful not to critique the major differences between two entities.

“That’s one thing I haven’t done and not wanted to do – judge each team or compare – because they’re a totally different team and totally different game plan or circumstance,” he said.

“I played a lot of finals footy for Adelaide, which is what I want to do here eventually as well.

“It’s a really hard one to compare teams. I think it’s a bit unfair to judge because each team is different and the players are different.”

But he did say there was one thing that caught him pleasantly by surprise when he arrived at Melbourne.

“The one thing, when I first came here, that I didn’t expect was how fit the guys were. We had 10 blokes run under 10 minutes in the three-km [time-trial], which is pretty elite to have guys in that category,” he said.

“We’ve proved that we’re certainly fit enough to go at the level and Adelaide was seen as one of the fittest teams in the comp and trained the hardest. We train and run as good as any team in the comp – we’ve just got to convert that from training into games.

“Sometimes we tackle and run harder in training than we do in actual games, so it’s just finding that balance. It’s a really good problem to have because if you’re training that hard, it seems like you should be playing at that level too.

“We certainly wouldn’t want it the other way around, where we just train shocking and just rolled into games. Hopefully we can translate that into games more.”

Once he became a Demon – after he was traded by the Crows to Melbourne for selection No.23 (eventually Matt Crouch) in last year’s trade period – Vince said he was determined to make a fresh start.

“It was a bit of a motivating factor to make sure I wasn’t coming to the Melbourne footy club to be here for a few years and that was it,” he said.

“I really wanted to come over here and play really well and just do the best I can.

“I want to see the club do well and I think we’ve set a really good foundation for next year.”

And so Vince proved himself in his first season with Melbourne.

He finished third in the club best and fairest, behind winner Nathan Jones and runner-up Dom Tyson.

Aside from his 2009 best and fairest winning season with Adelaide, it was Vince’s best finish in a club champion, proving the almost 29-year-old was a fine recruit and one who is looking to keep building on his start with his new club.