MELBOURNE coach Paul Roos says his team needed “a good solid hit out and we got it” against Fremantle at Fremantle Oval on Thursday night.

Although the Demons went down by 18 points, Roos said his side gave a strong effort for long periods of the match.

“We were playing against a very good side and apart from the second quarter, I thought our effort for three quarters was really good,” he said post-match.  

“We tackled hard and competed and that’s probably what we wanted to get out of today.”

Roos said his side was “stunned” in the second term, when it booted just one behind to 4.2, before it bounced back strongly in the third quarter with 3.4 to 0.1.

“For a pre-season game, it was a pretty hard contest,” he said.

“There was not a lot of time and space, which was why we were happy playing Fremantle first up, because it’s a huge test.

“I thought the second half was pretty physical for a pre-season game and it’s good for our guys to get that early in the season.”

Roos praised recruits Ben Newton, Heritier Lumumba and Jeff Garlett and rookie Aaron vandenBerg, who “came on and did pretty well late”.

He also praised Jesse Hogan, who played his first match for the Demons since last year’s NAB Challenge clash against Geelong in Alice Springs.

“What I liked about Jesse’s game was when he was prepared to stand under the high ball and bring the ball to ground,” Roos said.

“I thought Dawesy (Chris Dawes) and Hoges, when they were prepared to do that, made a difference, because they don’t get outmarked.”

Roos said a consecutive approach was taken with several players, including Jack Viney, who copped a head knock in the lead-up to the match and didn’t play.

He said Newton and Nev Jetta were not risked once they copped knocks in the match.