BERNIE Vince says he was “pretty proud of how the boys went at it” after Melbourne defeated the Western Bulldogs by six points in its opening JLT Community Series clash at the UV Whitten Oval on Saturday.

Vince said Melbourne wanted to emulate the Western Bulldogs with a similar style of play.

“The way they play is the way we want to play – a contested, outnumber style, so we knew we’d be up for a fight. The intensity was right up and it was almost like an AFL game during the season,” he told Melbourne TV.

“They came at us pretty hard twice, but we were able to slow them and get the momentum back even”, he said.

“Both teams made a few mistakes, which is going to happen in the first game, but I was pretty happy with game overall.”

Vince, who had 26 touches, said he was happy spending time at half-back.

“I played a bit there last year and I was across half-back all day today,” he said.

“There are a lot of young guys coming through who want midfield spots, so I’m happy to step back and let them have a go.

“I remember the old guys at Adelaide used to do that, so I’ve learned from that.”  

And the 2015 Melbourne best and fairest winner was particularly impressed with his teammates down back.

“I thought Oscar McDonald was really good in the air,” he said.

“It was good to have Jake Melksham play his first game in a year and I thought he was very good.

“Tommy [McDonald] was very good down back – all of the backs played well – and I thought Joel Smith was very good aerially in his first game.”