COACH Simon Goodwin says an even contribution across the board was the most pleasing aspect of his side’s 53-point win against North Melbourne at Kingston Twin Ovals on Saturday afternoon.

Goodwin said post-match: “We’ve been working on that as a group to build depth in our footy club and I thought it was a great even contribution as a team.”

“We were strong around the footy, we moved the ball pretty efficiently and we defended quite strongly, so I thought it was an even contribution in all phases, but also from all individuals.”

Goodwin praised new forward Bayley Fritsch and said former Crow Jake Lever impressed in his first game for the club.

“I think he (Lever) was really strong. His communication and leadership from behind the ball was really evident again, and he’s had a really great summer from a training perspective, and he’s fitted in really well with our playing group,” he said.

Goodwin was also pleased with his forward line, highlighting Jesse Hogan, Mitch Hannan, Christian Petracca and Clayton Oliver as players who spent time in attack and in the midfield. He added that Angus Brayshaw, Christian Salem and James Harmes were strong in “a variety positions”.

“We’ve got a good forward group that are good competitors one-on-one,” he said.

“They compete really strongly when the ball is in the area – both in the air and on the ground.

“I think they put an enormous amount of pressure on the opposition, and they’re building some really good chemistry together – I really loved their team first [approach]. They shared the ball well and their selection inside 50 was very good.”

And Goodwin was excited about the potential of Jake Melksham this year.

“We got Melky to the club because we knew he had a lot of ability. To Jake’s credit, he’s really knuckled down over the last couple of years,” he said.

“He had a year out of the game, and he’s come back, since becoming a father, and has become quite mature and has gone about his game, building that the right way.

“We put him in a position as a forward last year and he exceled. We’ve got some high hopes for Jake and his ability to play in that forward half of the ground for us.”

Meanwhile, Goodwin said Neville Jetta and Dom Tyson were likely to return for Melbourne’s second JLT Community Series match against St Kilda on Thursday night, March 8 at Casey Fields. But co-captain Jack Viney remained in doubt, as he continues to return from a foot injury.

“Definitely Jetta and Tyson will probably be ready to go, but Jack, we’ll just wait and see,” he said.

“He’s (Viney) potentially another week away [after that game against St Kilda] and he’s doing a lot of training at the moment, so we’ll continue to monitor his loads and make sure he’s right for the whole season – it’s not just about round one.

“We’ll just see how that goes over the next couple of weeks.”