SENIOR coach Paul Roos says he is pleased with Melbourne’s overall direction at the midway point of the 2016 season.

Reflecting on the first 13 rounds of the year, Roos said Melbourne’s narrow five point loss to North Melbourne in round three provided a significant boost early in the season.

“The wins have been fantastic, but I think the North Melbourne game gave some players some real confidence,” he said.

“We came off a good win against the Giants and the next week against Essendon we lost. Going down to Tassie, it was really tough. It was really tough conditions against a team that’s still in the top four and went 10 rounds without losing.

“So to come away with that with a five-point loss gave the players some confidence. It would’ve been great to win, but it was a really exciting win and one that they got out to a seven [goal] lead, so those games in the past have been disastrous for us.

“As strange as it sounds, picking a losing game as a critical game for us to set up the next part of the season was really important for us.”

On field, Roos said that the collective development of Melbourne’s young list had been one of the most encouraging aspects of the season so far.

“We tend to forget how young we are at times.

“We need to remind ourselves after a game like Sydney that we’re still a really young team.

“In that regards, the overall development has been pleasing more than anything. Even Bernie Vince and Nathan Jones – our two most experienced players – they’re playing really good football and have stepped up.

“Dom Tyson is in that middle bracket and some young kids have come in and played really, really well. It’s hard to individualise. For us to win six games and win some more in the backend [of the season] – we need everyone playing well and that’s been the theme for our good games.

“Our good games have been around pretty much all of our players.”

With only nine games remaining for the year, Roos said it was important that Melbourne continues to build consistency.

“The second half [of the season] provides us with some different challenges … particularly in terms of travel.”

“We’ve got Freo up in Darwin and we’ve got Port Adelaide in Adelaide and West Coast over there [in Perth], so it’s terrific, because there are some good challenges among that. Geelong at Geelong in the last game of the year [is also a challenge].

“You know that every game is going to be really, really difficult and it’s going to be competitive – no matter when you play and where you play. We’re trying to set our team up for the long run. Nine games to go and it’ll be the old one week at a time when we get back.”

 As his time as senior coach start to draw closer to an end, Roos said he has full confidence that the right foundations have been laid in the football department.

“I’ve had a bit of time to reflect this week with some mid-season reviews this week.

“The coaching group has been fantastic. Simon [Goodwin] is really well-placed, but the coaching group has worked really well together.

“It’s one of the goals that I set myself with Josh Mahoney – to put a really good football department together. We’ve been able to do that and we keep driving the team and the footy department and keep striving for some results in the short term.

“I’m really pleased where the club is placed and I’m looking forward to the next nine weeks.”

Roos said the bye round would be a good opportunity to recharge and experience a change of scenery.

“I’m still trying to work that out. Last week was an interstate trip, so I don’t want to get on a plane again to be honest.”

“But I’ll try and get away – maybe down to Red Hill or something like that, locally and just have a rest.”