Simon Goodwin has highlighted a long list of on-field areas to address with his Melbourne side as they seek to get their AFL premiership defence back on track.
Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin expected an audit of his AFL side in the heavyweight clash against Geelong - and he got one.
But what he didn't expect at GMHBA Stadium on Thursday night was his vaunted midfield unit to get so well beaten around the ball.
The Cats dominated clearances (54-36) and inside-50s (66-46), and had 13 more scoring shots, in a comprehensive 28-point win that dislodged the reigning premiers from the top of the ladder.
"Clearly we've got to look at our contest, our stoppage and clearance game, our centre bounce, our ability to execute when we get our time in forward half and getting the ball out of our defensive 50," Goodwin said.
"That was a big part of tonight's game, so there's a lot to learn.
"We lost a lot of battles, which is a little bit unique for us.
"But we'll go away as a coaching group, look at the tape and come up with some clear solutions and continue to move forward."
Melbourne steamrolled the competition in 10 straight wins to start the year but have since stumbled, with the Geelong result their fourth loss from their last six games.
The Demons (12-4) now sit in second spot, behind the Cats because of an inferior percentage.
Brisbane and Fremantle could draw level with the top two on 12 wins by the end of the round.
"This is a time of the year where you're still gathering information on your team about how you best operate," Goodwin said.
'We're no different to a lot of teams (in that regard).
"We've still got some growth that we need to find in our footy team to continue to forge ahead but we've still got enormous belief in the way we play.
"We're still in an amazing position for this back half of the year to really launch ourselves into what's ahead of us.
"We've got some challenges coming up but we're looking forward to them."
Next up is a clash with Port Adelaide in Alice Springs, with gun midfielder Clayton Oliver in some doubt because of a thumb injury.
"We think it's just bruised so we'll let that settle over the next few days and make sure it's ok," Goodwin said.
"But hopefully it's just a bruise."
