COACH Simon Goodwin says the club relishes the opportunity to play two home and away matches in the Northern Territory.

Goodwin said the club saw it as a big tick to play a game in Alice Springs and Darwin.   

“We’re really proud of our relationship with the Northern Territory,” he said.

“It’s been a while now and we’re starting to get a really strong fan base in Alice and through Darwin, so for us to come up here and play the way that we played was something that we’re really embracing as a club.

“We see it as a real advantage to play the two games in the Northern Territory and we just want to continue to strengthen and foster the relationship.”

Reflecting on Melbourne’s 35-point win over the Gold Coast Suns at TIO Traeger Park on Saturday, Goodwin said his side stuck to its fundamentals to secure the win.

“We asked our players to do the simple things really well,” he said.

“We made a lot of blues in the first half and to Gold Coast’s credit, I thought their pressure was very good.

“We couldn’t connect with our ball use and it was costing us and Gold Coast had six goals on turnover in the first half.

“It was really just doing the simple things well and once we started to do that, we found some confidence and started to hit the scoreboard.”

Goodwin was delighted with several of his charges and spoke glowingly of Jeff Garlett’s five-goal performance.

“He was brilliant,” he said.

“After last week, I knew he was really keen to respond, especially in this round and it was a really important role for him.

“For him to play the way he did in Alice was great for Jeffy. His pressure and reward was excellent.”