MUCH has been made of Melbourne’s year to date, but departing mentoring coach Brendan McCartney is full of praise for the red and blue.

On Monday afternoon, McCartney announced to the playing group that he won’t be continuing with the club next season, but says it is well poised to achieve big things in the near future.

“People will see this as a down year or a backwards year. On wins and losses, yes, but there has still been enormous growth and learning this year,” McCartney told Melbourne Media.

“To the football department’s credit, they haven’t sat on their hands, they haven’t panicked.

“They’ve continued to try things, experiment with things, challenge at the right time, and support at the right time.

“They’ve put steps in place around the future, but not left behind the building blocks that started five or six years ago.

“They continue to bring people in that have character and competitiveness and a will to win.”

And while the Dees’ side is still young, McCartney is confident the talent is there to take the club forward.

“This playing group is probably at a third of its development … but a lot of the initial hard work has been done,” he said.

“The growth and development in this club over the past four or five years has been extraordinary.”

While McCartney has been impressed with the entire club over his five-year tenure, he said it was the Board that stood out in allowing the football department to grow.

“They support and advise and still allow people to do their jobs, which is just fantastic,” he said.

“The stability they have provided this club has been really important – you need that.”

On the back of this support, McCartney sees Simon Goodwin becoming an incredibly successful leader of the club.

“Simon is still a young coach and it’s still a young coaching group, so that stability is important,” he said.

“He’s a brilliant young senior coach and he will prove that in time. The coaching group he has around him is set to go forward and be very successful.”

While it has been a challenging 2019 season, McCartney urged Demons fans to stick true and see out the rough patch, certain that the club is well positioned to achieve something special.

“The end result is wins and losses dictate the mood, the environment, the perception,” he said.

“But to Melbourne supporters out there, just hang on, hang in there, because there’s some really good times coming; really good times.”

While McCartney is disappointed to be leaving the place he’s called home since 2015, he couldn’t be more thankful of the opportunities he has had at the club.

“I have enormous gratitude and thanks to Melbourne,” he said.

“It’s a shame to be leaving but I’m looking forward to the next phase of my working life.

“Now, I want to give back to the game – the game’s been incredibly good to me. I’ve been so lucky.

“It’s a great game and a great industry.”