Melbourne coach Mark Neeld. Picture: Andrew Henshaw Source: Herald Sun
A SURPRISINGLY calm Mark Neeld pulled up a chair and sat in front of his players in the coaches' room, moments after being heckled off the MCG.
He chose not to pace up and back and rant at the forlorn figures in front of him, instead making it a discussion.
"You need to be really careful with immediate post-match discussions," he said.
"They can be quite emotive, but the reason we did that is we believe they needed to listen most importantly and then deliver to us things that needed to be said."
Neeld said his piece, basing it generally on bigger-picture plans and specifically on the work rate of the previous two hours.
Skipper Jack Grimes spoke, then Nathan Jones, Mitch Clark and, finally, first-gamer Jack Viney.
The players weren't invited to speak - they invited themselves.
"I pointed out what we didn't see is what we have been seeing at training," Neeld said.
"I was pleased those guys spoke.
They are the natural leaders within the group.
I was really interested to see the reaction from the other players as to whether they were listening, what they were taking in.
"They were listening and that's a good sign. But the biggest challenge is actions, and we talked about that a lot.
"One of the key messages was we know it's hard, we know the position the club is in. It's not too often you have to rebuild and there's a million reasons why we are here, but that's our job.
"And unless you are on the inside and seeing it day to day no one will believe there has been improvement.
"And that's OK, because we've got nothing to offer on performance day - yet.
"And the thing they all reinforced was how hard they've trained over the past 12 months and that guys with good character don't let that slip."
The Demons after their Round 1 loss. Source: Getty Images
CRITICISM
YOU just knew it would be vicious and it was.
From Wayne Carey, from Garry Lyon, from Paul Roos to talkback radio and Twitter, the Demons were pulverised.
Weak. Pathetic. Soft.
They can't play. He can't coach. The game plan was confusing, the coach had lost the players and the players were sooking in response.
Neeld said he has a strong armour.
"The criticism is going to come with the job," he said
"A lot of the people who make the criticisms don't have all the information.
"It doesn't matter how big the names are, unless they see what happens day to day, they don't know everything.
"But we're not going to shy away ... that was a below-par performance.
"But it is one game of 22 in the second year of a rebuild, and we're going to do as much as we can to make sure that doesn't put us back."
Neeld said he hasn't read a newspaper, listened to the radio or watched any of the footy programs on TV.
"When I got home, I wasn't ready to do the review straight away, which is abnormal," he said.
"And the reason I wasn't ready is because that natural competitive nature that we talk about all the time wasn't there and I was really disappointed."
Fuming?
"Not really. If there is a coach who lets themselves fume inside for too long, you're not going to make the correct decisions for the club, which is a bad call," he said.
He watched Collingwood-North Melbourne - "It was a completely different game," he said, "almost like a completely different sport."
The performance didn't jolt him, nor was it a situation of a disconnect between the coach and the players.
"It's a hard road we've chosen, but it's the one we're on.
The confidence I get is from what I see every day. I haven't got a crystal ball, I don't know how long that turns into performance, but I know that's the hardest step to take."
The Demons come onto the ground against the Power. Source: Getty Images
REVIEW 1
ON Sunday morning Neeld hit the pavement because, his wife said, he had eaten too much Easter chocolate.
The coaching group gathered about midday.
Each coach reviewed and tagged and cut and listed pros and cons from their specific areas.
Then it was across the road to watch Geelong and Hawthorn.
"There were lots of learnings for us," Neeld said.
"It was good to watch without being in the game.
"Right now, we will never lament that we don't have a Sam Mitchell or (Joel) Selwood - we need to develop them.
"I don't know how many times you sit in the box and watch the TV and when someone is kicking for a goal, up flashes the name, 27 years, 170 games.
"I will use Liam Shiels as an example. He's having a shot for goal and he's played so many games, but he's played more games than our two captains.
"Look at Mitchell. Our job is to develop (Jack) Grimes into that over time. Different player but play in the same area of the ground."
Neeld sat with defensive coach Jade Rawlings for a quarter andmonitored the Geelong defensive group, which includes Harry Taylor, Tom Lonergan, Corey Enright and Andrew Mackie.
"Our job is to try to develop Watts into that, and Col Garland down those lines," Neeld said.
Oh no, how did this happen? Source: Getty Images
REVIEW 2
MONDAY was a day of individual discussions with almost half the team.
One in particular left its mark.
It was with first-gamer Jimmy Toumpas, and showed Neeld the depth of feeling and the want to succeed.
"I just wanted to know what he thought about AFL footy," Neeld laughed.
"He was hilarious. I said, 'S---, what did you think?' He's a good kid. He was devastated. And this is where you get a reality check.
"He thought he had let down the entire Greek community.
"I said, 'Jimmy, you've just debuted in something you've always wanted to do, I think you've made the entire Greek community proud'.
"He asked what I was thinking, and I said, 'You're playing against Essendon, this is where you're going to play, have you got any questions?' "
Neeld also spoke to Viney.
"I said, 'Jack, what have you got for me?' He says, 'Right, I've spoken to Jonesy this morning and what we're going to do in the centre bounce against (Bomber Paddy) Ryder is this, we're going try this ...
"I said, 'Jack, that's OK, but how did you recover, how's the body?'
"He said, "Mate, don't worry about that, that's sorted, this is what I reckon we should do this week'.
"They are the future of our footy club."
Coach Mark Neeld, Nathan Jones and Jack Grimes of the Demons stand for the national anthem before Round 1. Source: Getty Images
REVIEW 3
TUESDAY.
It's about the journey of being ready to play AFL which leads to the game review, which centres on work ethic.
Not so long ago you could tell a player he didn't work hard.
Today you can tell them they didn't work hard and thrust GPS data at them.
"It was interesting to sit down with the players and look at their vision, but also pull out numbers to show how they worked during the game compared to when they trained - and they were very different," Neeld said.
Neeld used 10 to 12 clips from the Port Adelaide game to highlight the lack of work ethic, and used the data to compare their training workloads to Sunday's workloads.
"We were able to draw the parallel from training," he said.
"For example, there's your result from January 15 and you ran that far, that quick, that many times and that hard. And look at what you did on Sunday."
One clip was of defender James Frawley.
"He's as honest as the day is long, and we said, 'Chipper, what happened here?'
"He said, 'I can remember that and I thought I was going quick. I felt like I was going quick. But looking at that, I wasn't going quick'.
"I said, 'Chipper, you weren't'.
"Those were the sort of talks we had."
Demons coach Mark Neeld speaks to his team at three-quarter time last Saturday. Source: Getty Images
CAM PEDERSEN
IT'S a tricky one for Neeld.
Pedersen, in his first game and in a non-threatening environment, ducked his head as he went for a mark in the middle of the MCG.
Neeld knows every player has done that at some stage, and tells Pedersen so.
He also tells Pedersen that it can't happen again.
Neeld won't say if Pedersen is in the team or out.
They spoke Tuesday morning.
"He said he wasn't great," Neeld said.
"I could imagine how he was feeling. Most footballers have done an act they thought they could have gone stronger in.
"And I told him, he needed to grow stronger, but here is how we are going to help you through it.
"On the training track this week and every other week we will put you in that position to make sure you watch the football into your hands, and we will bump you, and you need to keep watching the ball into your hands. And as each week goes, the body contact will get harder.
"Your end of the bargain is to eradicate that from your game. I gave him other examples of players that the world knows did it, but they've got it out of their game. That's the way I handled it.
"I told him I can't guarantee you will play this week, nor can I say if you're out of the side, but whatever happens we won't shy away from our role to educate you.
"The reality is Cam Pedersen has played 17 games of AFL football ... and we won't abandon him."
Cameron Pederson in action against Port Adelaide. Source: Getty Images
SELECTION
SOMETIMES you throw the challenge at the same group and don't make changes.
Other times the performance is so unacceptable changes are needed.
Neeld is a latter-type coach. He will make four changes, and will only say that Lynden Dunn is out with a hamstring strain.
Into the side will come skipper Jack Trengove, Tom McDonald, debutant Dean Terlich, a running half-back, and one other.
"We have to get balance," Neeld said.
"And within that there are roles that have to be played. There were a couple of cases where players knew exactly what their role was, and we saw none of it."
There was also the lack of application, and that always carries a penalty.
"The penalty for that is you won't be playing AFL football this week," he said.
The Demons leave the field after their Round 1 defeat. Source: Getty Images
GAME PLAN
ONE question being asked: is Neeld over-coaching, over-complicating the manner in which they play?
He laughed at the question.
No, he's not a Mick Malthouse clone who hugs the boundary.
No, not one player has told him in the past 18 months he doesn't understand what the coach is saying.
No, he doesn't have a zone defence, which it looked like on Sunday.
And, yes, he wants attacking football.
"You have to ask the players if I over-complicate things," he said.
"No one has ever told me they are confused.
"I hate kicking down the line, it's slow and boring. Just get it going.
"The person with the ball is the most important person on the ground."
