MELBOURNE may have started the season in disastrous fashion, but Western Bulldogs coach Rodney Eade is wary of the wounded Demons ahead of their clash at the MCG on Saturday.

Melbourne was roundly criticised after its 104-point drubbing at the hands of Hawthorn, while the Dogs won wide praise for their gutsy win over Adelaide, but Eade put little store in the wildly varying fortunes of the two sides. 

“Teams that have been beaten will always bounce back,” Eade said from the MCG on Thursday. “I think, at some stage, every team is going to have an aberration; it’s just the way that footy is. If you’re not on song or the other team gets a bit of a roll on, it can be a blow out.

“Melbourne has got a lot of talent, they’re a side that plays well against us and we’ve had some good contests over the last three or four seasons, so we certainly expect them to be very aggressive on the weekend.”

Eade admitted he felt for new Demons coach Dean Bailey as he watched Sunday’s heavy defeat unfold and said he would have called the rookie coach to offer his support in the aftermath if his Dogs had not been set to play Melbourne this week.

While keen not to get carried away with the thrilling three-point win over the Crows, Eade said there were several positives to take away from the highly-entertaining encounter.

“Adelaide are a very good side and they have a very good defensive unit across the ground, not just the back six, and to be able to score 19 goals was very pleasing against that,” he said.

“To be, at varying stages, four goals down and then two goals down with five minutes to go, to be able to fight back and win the game, I thought the guys persevered very well.

“But it is only round one, it’s a long season, everybody at some stage is going to have a hiccup [and] everyone’s going to play well at some stage so we’ve just got to look for consistency.”

Euphoric scenes followed the win in skipper Brad Johnson’s 300-game milestone, but after a winning start that ultimately ended in disappointment last season, Eade was confident his players were quickly focused on backing up the victory.

“We spoke after the game about how that’s one game and it’s out of the way,” he said.

“Last year we won in round one, we beat Geelong and then lost the next week. [For us] it’s more about that game’s gone, it’s finished, so let’s focus on round two.

“In the past we’ve lost games that we should win or we haven’t been able to string two together, so that’s what we’re looking for this week.

“The way the guys have approached training this week has been pleasing, so I think there’s that bit of resolve, if that’s the right phrase, and we know it’s going to be tough.”