COACH Paul Roos says Melbourne’s win over Geelong was undoubtedly his finest victory since joining the club.

Speaking post-match after his side’s stunning 24-point win over the Cats at Simonds Stadium, Roos was posed the notion of whether it was his best win as Melbourne coach.

“As Melbourne coach, definitely,” he said.

“We have so much respect, as everyone does, for Geelong and what they’ve been able to do as a footy club over many, many years and they’ve still got some great warriors that are still playing.

“They’re a terrific contested team and they have been over the years. The way they play their football, everyone loves, so for us to come down here and have a fantastic win [is great for the club]. We’ve got seven or eight guys out of the team as well.

“Just the response from the team, and the players, particularly the skipper, whose effort, including 35 [disposals] and a goal [was outstanding]. He just typifies the fight that the boys have got and the next test is how we back up in Darwin against West Coast, who are another terrific side.”

Roos said it was an especially good win, on the back of falling short by two points in the dying stages against St Kilda at Etihad Stadium last round.  

“It’s a great win. Geelong at Geelong is a fantastic win and they’ve been in terrific form. For us to bounce back after a bad 41 seconds last week [was great],” he said.

“We think we’ve been competitive the last two weeks, but we haven’t been able to win [against Collingwood and then St Kilda]. Hopefully this gives the belief to the players that we’re on the right track and we’re heading in the right direction.”

But Roos said he didn’t know how the players would fare at Kardinia Park, given it was a significant day for Geelong, with Corey Enright becoming just the third Cat behind Ian Nankervis (325 games) and John ‘Sam’ Newman (300) to reach 300 games.

“You’d never know. You’re coming down the highway and it is Enright’s 300^th game and you’re playing at a venue that’s really hard to win at,” he said.

“I thought we were on pretty early, which was important and we were able to sustain that for the whole game, which is something we’ve struggled to do, against the better teams.”

Roos was optimistic Melbourne’s first win over Geelong since 2006 – and its first at the Cattery since 2005 – would boost the players’ confidence in the second half of the year. 

“We’ve had a tough draw – there’s no doubt about that. I hope it does [give the players belief] and that’s one thing I mentioned to the players. We’ve won before, but probably not to this level,” he said.

“It’s the toughest venue to play at now – or one of them – but we’ve won before and then been disappointing the following week, so certainly that’s something we’ve got to be mindful.

“It’s probably good we’ve got a bye next week, because we need it, like all of the clubs, particularly clubs with young [lists] with a lot of injuries – it’s good to have a weekend off.

“You’re hoping this might be the catalyst for real belief and moving forward for what we’re trying to do as a group – players and coaches.”