After not just a disastrous night, but a disastrous opening two weeks of the season for the Melbourne Football Club, there were many questions to be answered on Sunday.
Whether it was with the coach, players, board or captains, Melbourne’s 148 point loss to Essendon had responsibility falling on many within the club.
Speaking to 3AW Football on Sunday afternoon was the Sports Director of Performance; Neil Craig, accepts the incredibly difficult situation the club is in but says people like Mark Neeld will steer this club to where it needs to be.
“Mark Neeld is a very tough customer,” he said to Tim Lane and the team.
“Mark Neeld has got a crystal clear picture about what the future of the Melbourne football club looks like”.
Decisions from the past were raised in the broadcast, one in particular being about the selection of co-captains Jack Grimes and Jack Trengove at such a young age last year. Neil Craig backed that decision, based on the personnel in the playing group at that time.
“If you had the ideal situation, you would hand that (captaincy) to maybe a 26-27 year old that had some experience, but that wasn’t the case and these guys stood out in our footy club,” Craig said.
Weighing in to the conversation was former Melbourne player and now Richmond rookie listed player Ricky Petterd, who tweeted to @3AWisfootball that Nathan Jones was one to be considered.
From the coaching group, to the captains and now to the board, Caroline Wilson was not impressed with Don McLardy, who refused a request to speak to 3AW Football if she was on the program.
“He’s the president of a footy club in crisis. He has got to stand up in my view,” Wilson said.
“Despite me being on the show he should stand up and talk to 3AW today”.
Wilson understands that McLardy still has an issue with an article written in the Age last year about the Melbourne tanking situation.
The playing group is obviously under fire itself, but Neil Craig is also sure that they have the right frame of mind as a group to turn things around.
“The playing group at the moment which I see on a daily basis, I just know that they are committed to changing the playing culture of the Melbourne footy clubs as a group,” Craig explained.
“I see that by their works ethics, I see that by their capacity to endure tough training and keep coming back, I hear it in their talk and I see it during the week”.
In the next two rounds Melbourne play West Coast Eagles at the MCG and then they take on the GWS in what Caroline Wilson is a danger game for Mark Neeld.
LISTEN: Neil Craig speaks to Tim Lane, Caroline Wilson, Matthew Richardson and Tony Shaw
Having problems listening? Upgrade your media player for Internet Explorer, Google Chrome or Firefox.
No comments:
Post a Comment