SIMON Goodwin has praised Bernie Vince’s run-with performance on star Lion Dayne Zorko.

Vince was critical in curbing the 2017 All-Australian in the first half, with the coach offering a glowing endorsement towards Melbourne’s eldest member of its team. Although Zorko upped the ante in the second half, Goodwin said Vince's efforts were strong to keep the Lion to 20 touches. 

“It was a great duel. He [Zorko] can impact the scoreboard and he really drives some energy, and we saw it again in the second half,” Goodwin said after Melbourne’s 26-point win over the Brisbane Lions at the Gabba on Saturday night.

“When he started to find the ball through the middle of the ground, he really excited the Lions team.

“I thought his (Vince) first half was outstanding, as he kept him (Zorko) to six or seven possessions, so that went a long way to setting the game up for us early.”

Goodwin was also delighted with Jesse Hogan (five goals) and Jeff Garlett (four), who were instrumental in Melbourne’s first win of the season. Although Hogan is well-regarded as one of the best young players in the game, Goodwin reinforced the importance of Garlett, who was named in last year’s All-Australian squad.

“I think Jeffy showed in his first 14 weeks [last year] that he was the number one pressure player in the competition,” he said.

“He’s proven for a number of years now that he can kick goals in some pretty crucial moments, so he’s a really great player for us and someone that we rate highly.”

Although Melbourne coughed up a 42-point lead early in the second half, and the Lions kicked seven in a row from late in the third term until midway into the last quarter, Goodwin said he was still proud of his players to hold off the Lions. 

He said a comprehensive start set up the victory, when Melbourne jumped out to a 31-point lead at quarter-time. 

“I thought we were outstanding with the way we set the game up early in the first half,” he said.

“We had some great learnings from last week, in the way we went about our footy, especially defensively.

“Credit to Brisbane in the second half, I thought they really ramped up their pressure, especially around the stoppage and clearance, and they put us under enormous pressure there.”