Melbourne's strong brand of football will overcome their lack of AFL finals experience, insists coach Simon Goodwin.
The Demons face Geelong in a huge elimination final at the MCG on Friday week.
Melbourne are riding high after returning to the finals for the first time since 2006, but they will arrive on the big stage with precious few players who have been there before.
Four-time Hawthorn premiership defender Jordan Lewis is the exception with 23 finals, but Goodwin, not surprisingly, is backing his youthful side.
"We can't worry about it, we haven't got any experience," Goodwin told Fox Footy's On The Couch.
"But what we have developed over a period of time now is a brand of footy that we think stands up in finals.
"So we take confidence with the style of our play.
"I think we've lost contested ball once for the year. That's an important element to take into finals so I think that builds confidence."
Nathan Jones (2), Michael Hibberd (1) and Jake Melksham (1) are the only other Demons likely to play who have experienced finals before.
Goodwin's side has disappointed on occasion this season, but hit the finals ranked No.1 in tackles, contested possessions and hitouts.
The Demons, having broken their fans' hearts so many times, stormed into the finals with gutsy wins over fellow finalists West Coast and GWS.
Goodwin knows why some Melbourne fans might be a little gun shy ahead of the finals campaign.
"I understand it, without question. I understand it because they've been let down over a long period of time with similar behaviours," he said.
"So this playing group has had to carry that with them, and they've had to get through that, and they've broken a lot of hoodoos in the last two years in stadiums, teams, and we'll continue to do that."
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