MELBOURNE coach Mark Neeld should not have been facing the questions he did on Wednesday.
 
Perhaps with one exception: Can you explain what didn't happen?
 
There should have been no upset family, no impugned coach, no player forced to defend himself from media speculation.
 
All would have been avoided if the AFL's Jason Mifsud had picked up the phone to Melbourne and dealt with any supposed claims as soon as he heard them.
 
No story, no frenzy, no careers bruised.
 
That Mifsud chose to circulate the unsubstantiated - and worse, unchecked -  'information' to another person without alerting the club was an error of judgment that led to the rookie coach being asked what he was asked.
 
The following exchange between Neeld and some journalists at Wednesday's press conference shows why being careful with the use of information is so important.
 
Mark, has any of this damaged your relationship with indigenous players or your relationship with Aaron, in any way?
 
No, I don't know how.
 
Just from what has been written in the press in recent days?
 
I don't know how it could have, because there is no event.
 
Well, the assertion that was in the press was that the indigenous players weren't happy with your treatment of them, whether that was right or wrong …
 
Now hang on, it was fairly clear, there was nothing like that ever happened, not fairly clear, it was put to bed yesterday, surely.
 
If so wouldn't you then want to find the reason why the person and who the person is that (made) that assertion?
 
It's done and dusted. Yesterday. Over. Finished from my point of view. Hang on, from my point of view it finished at the press conference yesterday.
 
Bizarre. Yes.
 
Funny. No.
 
When Neeld was then asked whether he thought in retrospect Mifsud could have handled it better by immediately contacting the club when he heard information that concerned him, he was decent enough to say: "Jason himself spoke about that at the presser yesterday, and what he said was very good and clear, and Andrew (Demetriou) the same thing."
 
As Neeld said: apology and AFL action accepted.
 
Lesson learned, we hope.

That's following a tough couple of days for Neeld and his family. Days that would have been better spent focusing on his core business of coaching a football team.
 
"I know it is an industry that has the media spotlight (but) it has been a pretty stressful time for my family," he said.
 
So what next?
 
No one should forget the potential effect on someone in Neeld's position.
 
During his time with Richmond and Geelong in the early '90s, Neeld was never a star player in an era when media frenzy hardly existed.
 
After a long apprenticeship as a senior coach at junior level and assistant coach at Collingwood he is in the game's toughest job, one that means making hard decisions to try to change Melbourne's culture and playing patterns.
 
He is honest, refreshing and was already doing it tough, coming off a loss that created enough discussion in itself, a week after a club legend had been buried.
 
It's reasonable to guess no AFL coach has faced as much external pressure after just one match in the game's history.  
 
While Neeld has been honest and spoken freely without resort to cliché or matter-of-fact responses, he must be wondering whether he needs to change tack.

Anybody faced with the constant scrutiny that an AFL coach must endure will always be learning on the job. Neeld's problem was that he had no easy run into the eye of the storm. This was a firestorm that dropped on him without warning or without any training.
 
"I'm not sure being an assistant coach prepares you for this sort of thing," he said.
 
I'm not sure being a senior coach of long-standing would prepare anyone for this sort of thing.
 
"(It) doesn't matter whether you are an AFL coach and been doing it for 10 years or 10 minutes or whether you have been a journo for 10 minutes or 10 years, no one wants to go through that," Neeld said.
 
All AFL coaches and many players sent Neeld messages of support. They understand better than anyone what it's like being under the spotlight for reasons that are impossible to fathom.
 
Unfortunately rumour and innuendo are becoming daily occurrences in the media, and it was fascinating to note that Neeld's mentor Mick Malthouse said on radio on Tuesday night that he had never had media training in a career that spanned 28 seasons.

It's clear from the events of this week that those at every level of the football industry must be given formal training and education, not just in handling the media, but understanding that gossip and suggestion must never be treated as fact.

The Neeld experience may well be a benchmark for change. Unfortunately it will take some time for Neeld and his family to understand that the events of this week may benefit his successors.

The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the AFL or its clubs