Neeld turns to Richmond’s AFL model

When you’re on the bottom of the AFL ladder you have to take positives where you can find them.

Melbourne coach Mark Neeld is pinning his hopes on the Demons taking a leaf out of Richmond’s book.

While the Demons are winless from the first nine rounds, the Tigers are bubbling along nicely at 4-5 after upsetting Hawthorn on Saturday.

“Major shifts in footy clubs take time,” first-year coach Neeld said on Sunday after his side’s 15.17 (107) to 6.13 (49) defeat at the hands of Carlton at the MCG.

“We live in a society that’s all about ‘give it to me now’.

“It’s certainly not lost on me that two years ago they (Richmond) were in exactly the same position as what we are now (0-9) and they stayed the course as a whole club and a supporter base.

“They kept working hard and stuck at their structures that ‘Dimma’ (coach Damien Hardwick) and the rest of the club wanted.

“There’ll be no deviation from the way that our club wants to move forward.”

Neeld said he wasn’t exactly sure how to turn Brent Moloney’s poor form around, after the 2011 club champion had only 13 disposals and little influence on Sunday.

“He’s doing everything that is asked of him. He’s just not in great nick,” Neeld said.

“Eventually those things turn.”

It was an improved performance from the Demons following their 101-point loss to Sydney at the SCG in round eight, however the thoughts of the coaching staff and the 28,371 fans at the game turned to things other than football in the first quarter as Melbourne forward Brad Green appeared to be seriously hurt in a clash with Carlton’s Josh Bootsma.

Green was coughing up blood in the change rooms after suffering bruising to the lungs but scans have cleared the ex-skipper of any major damage, Neeld said.

“He just needs to be monitored regularly. We’ll just see how he is in the early parts of the week,” Neeld said.

“The fear was he had some type of lung problem so they went and scanned it and it’s nothing too serious. He’s pretty sore.”

The Demons face second-placed Essendon at the MCG next Saturday night.

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