COACH Mark Neeld has urged Melbourne members and supporters “to bunker down, stay at it and stick with the club”.
Neeld, who has endured one of the toughest senior coaching initiations in recent AFL history - given Melbourne’s winless start after eight rounds, and a host of incredible off-field issues which have affected the club - said it was a difficult period for all those who bleed red and blue.
“It’s tough times. It’s tough times for the footy club. It’s tough times for our supporters. It’s tough times for our 34,850 members who deserve a lot of credit, and a lot of thanks for sticking by us,” he told the ‘Coach’s Office’ on Dee TV.
“I just urge those members and supporters to stay with us and I’ve got a strong belief that we’ve got a core group of players that are developing some elite level AFL traits.
“There is a core group of players that are confronting some big things at the moment.”
Reflecting on last round’s 101-point loss to Sydney Swans at the SCG, Neeld said he felt for the red and blue faithful, but simply couldn’t “dress it up any more than what it was”.
“We’ve sat through the review and had a look at a couple of things that went right, but not much. It’s about standards - whether or not as a club we’re prepared to accept some of the things that were dished out,” he said.
“My role in all of that is to point that out and we have had discussions - albeit they are sometimes confronting and hard - but we pointed those out as a group. We sat around and we talked about it.
“From here, it’s about actions and seeing how we go. As a group, we have some big decisions to make, whether or not those standards are what we stand for.”
Neeld said the thing that concerned him the most about last Saturday’s shocker was his team’s inability to stop a run-on.
“Early on when the game had started, our adherence to the way we wanted to play was really good [but] our inability to deal with intense scoreboard pressure [was a concern],” he said.
“That is an area we’re working on as hard as we can.”
Asked if confidence was the biggest missing ingredient for the team at the moment, Neeld said it was “almost a chicken and the egg” situation.
“No one can open their drawer and hand you a bucket of confidence - that doesn’t exist,” he said.
“There is a work ethic that’s required to succeed at an elite level. Without the work ethic for an entire game, confidence won’t find you.
“But you actually have the chance to find confidence if you keep the work-rate at an elite level. At the moment, we’re inconsistent with our work-rate, and within quarters and within games.
“We’re also inconsistent with a number of us who have a strong work ethic, so you just can’t walk around the corner and buy a bucket of confidence. But you can’t certainly work hard to see if you can chase it.”
Despite dealing with intense external scrutiny, Neeld said that “unless you’re part of that inner sanctum” it was difficult to understand the progress that was being made.
“We can see what is happening - we being the coaches and the players and the footy department - we see what’s going on day to day,” he said.
“Make no mistake, we are at the stage where we are establishing standards for us as a group. We’re at very basic, competitive standards and that’s where we must start, because that’s the foundations you need to build to become competitive.
“What people see on the weekend is an outcome and a lot of work needs to go in. It’s not as if we need to start again every Monday morning. There is a long-term plan.”
Neeld said the preparation he had done over 14 years of coaching, including four years at Collingwood, held him in good stead for the long-term. But he said he had also learned plenty in his first year as a senior AFL coach.
He said he didn’t get caught up in all scrutiny, but acknowledged there were certain people in the media he was “happy to listen to and read their articles, because it’s really good feedback”.
“One thing I’ve learnt very quickly is that I can’t keep up with everything that’s written in the media because it’s just too vast,” he said.
“The only thing that can sometimes happen is when people write about other people’s opinion - sometimes that can be in a factual manner and if that’s not true [that’s frustrating].”
Melbourne has had an extremely difficult stretch since round five, which was the start of playing against seven of the top eight teams from last year.
It still has Carlton (currently seventh on the ladder), Essendon (third) and Collingwood (fifth) to play, before the mid-season break. But Neeld said the focus was on one team at a time.
“We know that all three of those football clubs are successful football organisations, and they’re trying to achieve what they want to achieve,” he said.
“We’re looking for a much improved performance from what we did in Sydney. We’re looking for individuals to improve, and we’re looking for us as a collective group to come out and show the supporters that we stand for certain things.
“What happened last Saturday night was not good enough, so that’s what we’re looking for.”
Moreover, Neeld has some clear aims for the rest of the season. And he said the players were “working extremely hard to try and improve some of their shortcomings”.
“From a supporter point of view, we’re certainly hoping to come away with some wins. It’s nice to see success along the way,” he said.
“We’re looking to come away with a further developed leadership group, and we’re really pleased with the way that our leadership group is working and developing and confronting some big issues.
“We want to come away with a really in-depth knowledge of our player list and we want to come away with understanding somewhat as to how hard you need to be able to work to succeed at league level.
“I’m not a fan of people who are solely seduced by talent, because it takes talent, albeit different levels of it to get into the AFL system.”
As for keeping his sense of humour and verve, Neeld said it was important to be his own person.
“I am who I am and it’s that simple,” he said.
“I’m not going to change the person that I am, because of the role that I’ve got, and we are all here because of our own experiences and what we’ve done to get here.
“We all want to improve every day and I’m exactly the same, but essentially, we are the people that we are and that’s really important.”
Overall, Neeld said Melbourne had done a “phenomenal” job at rebuilding the club’s training base at AAMI Park and financial status, and he remains adamant the results will eventuate long-term.
“We do have, I believe, a core group of, in particular, very young players, who are making in-roads. And the wheel can turn very quickly. The wheel can turn very quickly,” he said.
“The work ethic that the players are putting in behind closed doors from game to game, which people aren’t privy, is strong. And we believe we’re heading in the right direction.
“There might be some short term pain, but stick with us.”
Neeld, who has endured one of the toughest senior coaching initiations in recent AFL history - given Melbourne’s winless start after eight rounds, and a host of incredible off-field issues which have affected the club - said it was a difficult period for all those who bleed red and blue.
“It’s tough times. It’s tough times for the footy club. It’s tough times for our supporters. It’s tough times for our 34,850 members who deserve a lot of credit, and a lot of thanks for sticking by us,” he told the ‘Coach’s Office’ on Dee TV.
“I just urge those members and supporters to stay with us and I’ve got a strong belief that we’ve got a core group of players that are developing some elite level AFL traits.
“There is a core group of players that are confronting some big things at the moment.”
Reflecting on last round’s 101-point loss to Sydney Swans at the SCG, Neeld said he felt for the red and blue faithful, but simply couldn’t “dress it up any more than what it was”.
“We’ve sat through the review and had a look at a couple of things that went right, but not much. It’s about standards - whether or not as a club we’re prepared to accept some of the things that were dished out,” he said.
“My role in all of that is to point that out and we have had discussions - albeit they are sometimes confronting and hard - but we pointed those out as a group. We sat around and we talked about it.
“From here, it’s about actions and seeing how we go. As a group, we have some big decisions to make, whether or not those standards are what we stand for.”
Neeld said the thing that concerned him the most about last Saturday’s shocker was his team’s inability to stop a run-on.
“Early on when the game had started, our adherence to the way we wanted to play was really good [but] our inability to deal with intense scoreboard pressure [was a concern],” he said.
“That is an area we’re working on as hard as we can.”
Asked if confidence was the biggest missing ingredient for the team at the moment, Neeld said it was “almost a chicken and the egg” situation.
“No one can open their drawer and hand you a bucket of confidence - that doesn’t exist,” he said.
“There is a work ethic that’s required to succeed at an elite level. Without the work ethic for an entire game, confidence won’t find you.
“But you actually have the chance to find confidence if you keep the work-rate at an elite level. At the moment, we’re inconsistent with our work-rate, and within quarters and within games.
“We’re also inconsistent with a number of us who have a strong work ethic, so you just can’t walk around the corner and buy a bucket of confidence. But you can’t certainly work hard to see if you can chase it.”
Despite dealing with intense external scrutiny, Neeld said that “unless you’re part of that inner sanctum” it was difficult to understand the progress that was being made.
“We can see what is happening - we being the coaches and the players and the footy department - we see what’s going on day to day,” he said.
“Make no mistake, we are at the stage where we are establishing standards for us as a group. We’re at very basic, competitive standards and that’s where we must start, because that’s the foundations you need to build to become competitive.
“What people see on the weekend is an outcome and a lot of work needs to go in. It’s not as if we need to start again every Monday morning. There is a long-term plan.”
Neeld said the preparation he had done over 14 years of coaching, including four years at Collingwood, held him in good stead for the long-term. But he said he had also learned plenty in his first year as a senior AFL coach.
He said he didn’t get caught up in all scrutiny, but acknowledged there were certain people in the media he was “happy to listen to and read their articles, because it’s really good feedback”.
“One thing I’ve learnt very quickly is that I can’t keep up with everything that’s written in the media because it’s just too vast,” he said.
“The only thing that can sometimes happen is when people write about other people’s opinion - sometimes that can be in a factual manner and if that’s not true [that’s frustrating].”
Melbourne has had an extremely difficult stretch since round five, which was the start of playing against seven of the top eight teams from last year.
It still has Carlton (currently seventh on the ladder), Essendon (third) and Collingwood (fifth) to play, before the mid-season break. But Neeld said the focus was on one team at a time.
“We know that all three of those football clubs are successful football organisations, and they’re trying to achieve what they want to achieve,” he said.
“We’re looking for a much improved performance from what we did in Sydney. We’re looking for individuals to improve, and we’re looking for us as a collective group to come out and show the supporters that we stand for certain things.
“What happened last Saturday night was not good enough, so that’s what we’re looking for.”
Moreover, Neeld has some clear aims for the rest of the season. And he said the players were “working extremely hard to try and improve some of their shortcomings”.
“From a supporter point of view, we’re certainly hoping to come away with some wins. It’s nice to see success along the way,” he said.
“We’re looking to come away with a further developed leadership group, and we’re really pleased with the way that our leadership group is working and developing and confronting some big issues.
“We want to come away with a really in-depth knowledge of our player list and we want to come away with understanding somewhat as to how hard you need to be able to work to succeed at league level.
“I’m not a fan of people who are solely seduced by talent, because it takes talent, albeit different levels of it to get into the AFL system.”
As for keeping his sense of humour and verve, Neeld said it was important to be his own person.
“I am who I am and it’s that simple,” he said.
“I’m not going to change the person that I am, because of the role that I’ve got, and we are all here because of our own experiences and what we’ve done to get here.
“We all want to improve every day and I’m exactly the same, but essentially, we are the people that we are and that’s really important.”
Overall, Neeld said Melbourne had done a “phenomenal” job at rebuilding the club’s training base at AAMI Park and financial status, and he remains adamant the results will eventuate long-term.
“We do have, I believe, a core group of, in particular, very young players, who are making in-roads. And the wheel can turn very quickly. The wheel can turn very quickly,” he said.
“The work ethic that the players are putting in behind closed doors from game to game, which people aren’t privy, is strong. And we believe we’re heading in the right direction.
“There might be some short term pain, but stick with us.”
