SIMON Goodwin says there is no doubt Melbourne has drawn upon the Anzac spirit in the lead-up to Tuesday night’s match against Richmond at the MCG.

The Melbourne coach said mateship was a key trait that had been embedded into the team.

“There are some things among the Anzac spirit that are really important for us – especially now,” he said at a joint media conference with Richmond coach Damien Hardwick at the MCG on Monday.

“Mateship is something that is really important to us as a footy club – and really coming together, especially after last week.

“It’s about how we go about our footy and we’re going to need everyone to go about it in the manner that actually resembles some of that spirit.

“It’s an important week for us and we can’t go out there and honour them, but we can actually use some of the spirit that they generate within in our team.”

Goodwin said the match was a fantastic event on the football calendar and he urged the football public to get to the September-like match. 

“The two clubs have done a terrific job in building this game to what it’s become,” he said. 

“It's like playing finals footy. The atmosphere will be electric and you’ll have two good teams going at it, and it will be a really exciting atmosphere.

“Our players are really looking forward to challenging themselves in that environment. They train and prepare to play these type of games.”

Goodwin reiterated that last round’s loss to Hawthorn at the MCG “didn’t resemble anything of the way we go about our footy”.  

“For us this week, it’s important about playing a brand of footy that we know the Melbourne supporters and the Melbourne people are proud of,” he said.

“We know that we can play, as a footy team.”