Dennis Armfield described partaking in Sunday's inaugural Vicki Cleary Day as a “super honour”.

The 153rd instalment of the Battle of Bell Street took on a much greater meaning, with the afternoon dedicated to victims of domestic violence.

VFA/VFL legend Phil Cleary made a spirited plea pre-match to a strong crowd at Coburg’s Piranha Park, imploring supporters to “be part of the solution”. 

Armfield said the players and club as a whole were unwavering in the support of the plight to end family violence.

“Phil spoke before the game… domestic violence is just something that just has to stop,” Armfield said.

“We’ve got to make a stand as men. To be part of this match… I’m proud to be involved, to do my part and I hope every other man follows suit.” 

While Armfield said it was pleasing to come away from the game with a win, the wider connotations of the day continued to be at the forefront of the group’s mind.

“To have this game and to come away with a win, to get the trophy - it’s a great moment for the club but a bigger moment for society in continuing to address this issue,” Armfield said.

With the game following, Armfield said it was pleasing to come away with the victory on a big day, but there were some inconsistencies which the Blues needed to iron out ahead of Collingwood at Victoria Park on Sunday.

“When we played our team footy to our system we were really good, the disappointing thing was the five red-time goals we conceded,” Armfield said. 

“We’ve got to lock down and fight it out for the full four quarters, but to the boys’ credit we knew they were going to start well and we matched them early.

“Hopefully it’s more of the same in terms of the good stuff next week against Collingwood. We’ve got a lot of upside and a lot of hard work ahead of us, so we’ll keep trucking along.”