With their new-look attack showing encouraging signs of potency, Melbourne burst from the blocks before completing a seven-point win over the Western Bulldogs in the AFL NAB Challenge clash at Eureka Stadium.
Former Carlton goalsneak Jeff Garlett got the Demons up and going with the first two goals of the game which Melbourne won 0.10.9 (69) to 0.9.8 (62).
Melbourne had the match pretty much sewn up by halftime, when they led by 45 points and had amassed more than double the amount of possessions than the Bulldogs.
No Demon has reached the modest 30-goal mark in any of the past three home and away seasons.
But judging on Saturday's showing, that could change in 2015.
Garlett and Jay Kennedy-Harris (two goals apiece) provide dangerous small options, while Jesse Hogan - given an overdue run of luck on the injury front - looks set to finally make his mark on the competition.
The Demons would also have been thrilled with the midfield run and carry provided by ex-Collingwood star Heretier Lumumba.
"They made a difference," said Melbourne coach Paul Roos.
"We're seeing a lot more depth and hopefully a lot more talent in the team.
"We've just got to make sure we're doing it consistently.
"Our first half was really good, we competed really hard, then once we stopped competing around the footy you lose momentum and it's hard to get back in a pre-season game."
Roos pledged to again play a strong lineup in their final pre-season clash on Friday against what will be another massively undermanned Essendon lineup.
The Bulldogs lifted after the long break on Saturday, kicking eight goals to just two from the Demons in the final two quarters.
Marcus Bontempelli and Mitch Honeychurch were among the Bulldogs' better players at a venue where they plan to be playing a couple of regular-season games per year from 2017 onwards.
"We learnt a couple of things today about ourselves and adjustments we may need to make from time to time," said first-year Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge.
"Obviously they dominated on the scoreboard and in possession early, so we needed to change a couple of things which, credit to the boys, they did really well."
Melbourne made only two changes to the team which ran Fremantle to within 18 points in their NAB Challenge opener, bringing in Jack Viney and Jack Watts.
The Bulldogs rested a host of big names for their second pre-season match including skipper Robert Murphy, livewire Luke Dahlhaus and young guns Tom Boyd and Jackson Macrae.
Beveridge is set to pick a much more experienced squad for their final NAB Challenge clash against Collingwood next Saturday.
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