BERNIE Vince says Melbourne can’t take it best start to a season since 2006 for granted.

The red and blue has notched up five wins from eight rounds, which is the same as its 2006 start and its most recent finals campaign.

“It’s certainly important to be ahead of the ledger, so it’s a good effort,” he said.

“We can’t look too much more than next week and Carlton is coming off a good win, so they’ll be up and about for the contest next week.

“So, we’ve got to prepare … we’ve got an eight-day break – a bit longer break – so we’ll get some good training in and take them on.”

Vince said Melbourne’s 83 inside 50s – an equal AFL record – was a testament to the team’s game plan.

“It was pretty high and about 45 at half-time and we did speak about that,” he said.

“I thought we lowered our eyes a lot better … and used the corridor a bit more and got it to our forwards in good positions, so they were able to kick goals, even though they kicked a few points.”

Vince said Melbourne’s win was a “reward for effort over the last three weeks”. 

“It was good. We’ve put some good efforts up, but that last quarter is something we’ve been working towards,” he said.

“We set up pretty well behind the ball and the mids kept winning the ball out of the middle, which made our job down back a lot easier in the last quarter. It was really good – I thought the team finished really well.

“They’re very good in the contest, Gold Coast, so we knew they were top three [in the competition] in tackles, clearances and contested ball. That’s what the good teams are good at.

“We just tried to beat them on the outside and create some outside run. We eventually ground them down … but it was a good last quarter.”