Melbourne's AFL steamrolling of Adelaide is a first step to regaining respect and payback for some past thrashings, says captain Brad Green.

The emotion, built up by 10 days of what Green admits was deserved criticism after their dismal performance against West Coast in the previous round, was obvious in the relentless 22.17 (149) to 8.5 (53) victory at the MCG.

It was also evident when the first-year skipper held the front of his jumper up to the crowd after kicking a goal in the third term.

And it flowed into the rooms, where club president Jim Stynes passionately praised the players and Green was similarly emotional.

"When you go through these tough weeks, you have a bit of time to think about things and what it really means to you to play football," Green told reporters.

"Where I am in my footy career, I just want this club to go well and succeed and push forward.

"I don't want to sit there and be treated like we've been treated for the past week."

Green put the difference between the 54-point loss to West Coast at Subiaco in round six and the 96-point win over the Crows to attitude.

"It's a mindset, it's an intent, it's a want," he said.

"It's a want to play contested footy, it's a want to chase and defend, and we brought that today.

"We played four quarters of footy and we said to the boys at three-quarter time, we wanted to keep grinding away, grinding away.

"We've gone over to Football Park and they've given us a pounding a few times and we just wanted to show them on our home turf what it's like."

Adelaide's loss was their biggest since 2004, but the margin could easily have been greater.

The difference was just 14 points at halftime, despite Melbourne already dominating, with only some sloppy finishing keeping Adelaide in touch.

Even Crows coach Neil Craig acknowledged his side was fortunate to be in the game that long.

"They were just too good for us in all areas of the game. We were just hanging on nearly from the first bounce," Craig said.

Melbourne's 16.6 to Adelaide's 3.2 in the second half was a better reflection of their control.

Midfielder Brent Moloney was outstanding, with 19 clearances among his 31 touches.

Fellow midfielders Colin Sylvia (26 disposals, four goals), Nathan Jones and Jack Trengove were also excellent, while Green worked hard throughout and ruckman Mark Jamar provided fine service.

Remarkably, despite having 87 more possessions than Adelaide, the Demons also had 22 more tackles, underlining their greater desperation.

Green said the key now was to maintain that.

"I was just saying to the boys that's the start of our year, that's the way we play, that's the way we train, let's not go over the top, that's just the start of it," he said.

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