COACH Mark Neeld says Melbourne will enter this year’s trade period with genuine purpose and only bring players to the club who can fulfill certain needs.
Speaking on ‘The Coach’s Office’ on DeeTV, Neeld said the club would target players and not just take a ‘see who’s available’ approach.
“We’re not going to just go and be active for the sake of being active,” he said.
“If we bring people to the Melbourne Football Club, it will be to fill specific roles.”
Neeld said this was highlighted on the field at the moment, with 192 cm tall defender-turned-forward Jared Rivers being asked to play a key role in attack.
“Just because of the status of our list and a few other things due to unavailabilities, we’re asking Jared to go down there and play as a 200 cm forward, which is difficult,” he said.
“We need a couple of forwards to stand up and give us a strong contest in the air - there’s no doubt about that.”
Reflecting on where the club’s list is at, Neeld said it was still very much in the development phase. He said then Melbourne averaged 55 matches per player last round, while the top four teams average 92.
“We simply don’t have enough players who are physically ready to endure four quarters of AFL footy week after week,” he said.
“And we’re getting there, but that’s where we’re at.”
Speaking on ‘The Coach’s Office’ on DeeTV, Neeld said the club would target players and not just take a ‘see who’s available’ approach.
“We’re not going to just go and be active for the sake of being active,” he said.
“If we bring people to the Melbourne Football Club, it will be to fill specific roles.”
Neeld said this was highlighted on the field at the moment, with 192 cm tall defender-turned-forward Jared Rivers being asked to play a key role in attack.
“Just because of the status of our list and a few other things due to unavailabilities, we’re asking Jared to go down there and play as a 200 cm forward, which is difficult,” he said.
“We need a couple of forwards to stand up and give us a strong contest in the air - there’s no doubt about that.”
Reflecting on where the club’s list is at, Neeld said it was still very much in the development phase. He said then Melbourne averaged 55 matches per player last round, while the top four teams average 92.
“We simply don’t have enough players who are physically ready to endure four quarters of AFL footy week after week,” he said.
“And we’re getting there, but that’s where we’re at.”
