NEW DEMON and dual Geelong premiership player Shannon Byrnes says “there is no certain secret” to winning.

Despite being part of Geelong’s brilliant era, which netted three premierships from 2007-11, Byrnes said “a lot of hard work and doing it well” was the key to sustained success for Melbourne.

“Coming from a club that has done well, you know what it takes to win and when you’re at a club that’s not doing so well, you’re only guessing,” he said at Melbourne’s annual general meeting at the MCG on Wednesday night.

“So there is no real formula and it’s not about doing any more or training harder – it’s about getting quality out of every session that you do.

“Quality in your training and learning all your structures as well as possible and everyone on the same page – it’s no secret formula that’s going to change the club.”

Meanwhile, the 28 year-old reflected on the Northern Territory pre-season camp in December, telling members it was a genuine success.

“The first session we did up there was probably the hardest session I’ve ever been involved in, just purely because of the conditions. It was the hottest day in 36 years that Darwin had had, so you can imagine what that was like,” Byrnes said.

“A few of the boys struggled at that, but even the coaches were learning about how to train us in those conditions. That first session set the example, and we trained a bit smarter from there on in.

“But no doubt, we got some great benefits out of it and the boys have come back better and stronger for it.”