Roos will make young Demons earn places

Melbourne’s 41-point loss to North Melbourne may have been a step back for the emerging Demons but Kangaroos boss Brad Scott was still impressed.

Scott lauded Demons coach Paul Roos after the match, impressed with his side’s ability to keep his forwards accountable.

“He’s a genius, I don’t know how he does it,” he said.

“He forces the opposition to miss, and he’s done it better than anyone this year.”

Despite their waywardness, North Melbourne’s 101 points comfortably accounted for the Demons’ 10.6 (66).

Roos added his name to a long list of Demons coaches unable to beat North Melbourne in recent years.

Eight years and 12 matches have now passed without a Demons’ win over the Kangaroos, with Neale Daniher, Mark Riley, Dean Bailey, Mark Neeld, Neil Craig and now Roos all beaten.

Roos said he only had “two or three” good players, nominating Bernie Vince, with 41 possessions and three-goal, as best on field and Jack Watts his second best.

But there won’t be new blood coming into the side for the sake of it, with Roos urging his young stock to prove themselves worthy of senior football.

“We want to set a standard for our players to come into this team,” he said.

“It hasn’t happened before and we’re not going to gift games just because they are young.

“The club’s been down that path. I don’t believe in that.

“You can get good habits playing seconds and then if you deserve to play, you get a game.”

If Roos needed another sign his side aren’t yet close to the real deal, it came from last week’s match-winner Christian Salem.

The top-10 draft pick went without a touch until late in the second quarter and was subbed out with just two disposals late in the third.

Roos says his side can’t afford to only play in patches.

“It’s certainly not as good as we’ve been playing … I thought some of our guys looked really tired,” he said.

“That’s what happens when you a play a side that gets the ball on the outside and runs, they make you pay.”