Melbourne ready to 'get down and dirty' in AFLW finals campaign

Melbourne wants to play «perfect» footy — at least that's what the rest of the league thinks.

And when the Demons are on song — as they were when they kicked the highest score in AFLW history against Fremantle earlier this month — it certainly seems as close to perfect as footy can get.

But Demons star Kate Hore knows that to win a premiership her team will need to play «ugly» as well.

«It's rare that a footy game's going to look perfect,» Hore told The W with Sharni and Sam podcast.

«We know that, we won't shy away from that.

»The game against Fremantle is probably as close to perfection that we're going to get, but that's obviously a once-in-a-season kind of game."

Hore acknowledged the Demons — who finished second behind Adelaide on the ladder at the end of the home-and-away season — were seen as a slick and refined «Rolls-Royce» footy team.

But the sense around the league is that if you force that Rolls-Royce onto a bumpy track careering through muddy puddles and potholes, then the wheels can fall off.

«It is funny that people on the outside say that,» Hore said.

«The 'prettiness' probably is when we get all three phases of our game together … our contest, our offence and our defence.»

Still, champagne football or not, Hore said her team could win if the going was to get tough.

«We're up for the grind, we back in our contest game, we know that's a real strength of ours,» she said.

«We definitely don't like it 'pretty' on the inside … people can say what they want, but we're good to get down and dirty when we need to.»

During the off-season, the Demons secured one of the league's recognised superstars in Tayla Harris.

Hore said there was some trepidation ahead of Harris's arrival, with the Demons coming off a fourth-placed finish