IT WAS great to recordour first victory of the season on Saturday afternoon against Adelaide – it was easily our best win for theyear!

The feeling was one ofrelief, excitement and hope. We turned up on Monday and it was bubbly aroundthe place – there's nothing like a win to give the club hope.

It was just what weneeded after a gut-wrenching loss in round nine. I was personally disappointedwith my game against the Kangaroos, when Shannon Grant kicked four goals on me,so I really wanted to bounce back against Adelaide.

I look back at the2000 qualifying final win against Carlton,when I had an impact in one quarter, booting four goals. Comparing that matchto the weekend, when I had plenty of touches, is hard.

It's about playingyour role. Yes, I got a few disposals, but hopefully I played my role for the coach– that was the most important thing for the team. 

It's stillfrustrating, however, as we could have entered round 11 with a 4-6 record, butinstead we're 1-9. Last year we won those close matches, but this season luckhas been against us and we've been hit hard by injury - that's footy.

It's been a tough fewmonths and it's not easy losing games of footy. The players at the club don'tlike losing matches, but we know we can match it with the best, if we geteverything going on the day.

From the outside,people don't always see that and sometimes teams get judged where they are onthe ladder, rather than what's been happening – it's a tough sport.

The media scrutiny onus hasn't been too bad, although Robert Walls wanted to trade a few of us –including me – according to an article he wrote in The Age on Saturday. That sort of article is always going to bewritten when wins are hard to come by.

Although I read thepapers throughout the week, I don't read them on game day, so I wasn't aware ofthe article until someone mentioned it to me before the game.

Basically, someonecame up to me and said: "Where are you getting traded to?" I didn'tknow what they were talking about at the time, but later found out that it was oneperson's opinion within the media.

What I really takenotice of is what the coaching staff, my peers and teammates say.

If people want to talkabout trades in round 10, then it's going to be a long season.

But if it ever cameabout I'd be disappointed. I love the Melbourne Football Club. I love thepeople around the place. Ultimately, I love coming to work everyday.

Walls also mentionedgetting rid of some very good players – Cameron Bruce, Russell Robertson,Travis Johnstone and Jeff White. I don't think trading those players is theanswer and I don't think we're in a rebuilding phase. I think we're alwaysbuilding.

If we can have aninjury-free season, we can start to get going again.