ADAM Tomlinson says there’s leadership aplenty at the Demons, despite concerns following their performance in Round 2.

Speaking on the Inside Melbourne podcast, Tomlinson backed the strong influence among the group, with on-field talk having been a big focus over the summer.

“It’s something that we’ve worked on really hard, especially before the Maroochydore camp and through that camp,” he said.

“Since the early start of pre-season, it’s been massive and I felt throughout the game on the weekend, especially in the first half, it was really good.”

The Dees, who got off to a flyer at Marvel Stadium before a Carlton comeback saw them just get over the line, opted for just a two-person leadership group in 2020.

But while Max Gawn (captain) and Jack Viney (vice-captain) are the ones at the helm, direction and control is a whole-group responsibility.

“When teams come at you, it’s obviously going to sort of waiver a little bit,” Tomlinson said.

“That’s where you’ve got to dig deep and revert back to your communication.

“Overall, it’s been great. We’ve been able to set up the right way that we want.”

Ed Langdon, who joined Melbourne alongside Tomlinson during last year’s Trade Period, echoed his teammate’s reflections.

“That [fast-paced] brand of footy utilises the strengths we have in the team,” he said.

“As we saw in that first quarter, when we’re playing like that, we’re going to be pretty hard to beat.

“That’s pretty much how we try and start all trainings, as that sort of first five minutes sets the tone for the game – it certainly did on the weekend.

“Now it’s about restarting after half time and doing that again.”

Despite only having a couple of red and blue games under their belts, the two recruits have had a big impact to date, playing important roles on the wings.

And this is only set to build as time goes on. 

“For us, we’ve only played two games for the footy club,” Tomlinson said.

“We’re still learning and sort of adapting to everything.

“It’s been really good since I’ve been at the club and I’m absolutely loving it.”

Listen to this week’s episode of Inside Melbourne below.