COACH Neil Craig says the Demons need to respond strongly against Greater Western Sydney at Skoda Stadium on Saturday, after producing a dismal 122-point loss to North Melbourne at Etihad Stadium last round. 

Speaking in The Craig Report on Dee TV, Craig said last Saturday’s effort was a “step backwards” for the club, but he added that his team had a great opportunity to rebound against the Giants on the road.

“That is the challenge for our playing group, after providing a very disappointing performance to our supporters, coterie groups, members and just as importantly – if not the most important – to themselves,” he said.

“We go to Sydney very determined and with a great amount of resolve to play with a much greater effort and intensity than we demonstrated against North Melbourne.”

With Troy Davis, Rory Taggert, Dom Barry and rookie Nathan Stark the only Demons yet to make their AFL debut, Craig said he was not adverse to naming an untried player by the end of the season.

“I’m open minded about bringing a first gamer in in the next five weeks, but that will be based on players’ performances,” he said.

“We still have a situation where we can elevate a rookie, if we want to do that, and there are still some players who haven’t played AFL football for this club, but that will be based on their performance at Casey.

“I certainly won’t be promoting players just to have a look at them at AFL level.”

Meanwhile, Craig said co-captain Jack Grimes was not being wasted as a tagger.

“Taggers tend to stand the best players in the competition, so I certainly don’t consider it a waste. What we are trying to do with our team is develop a range of players who can play in different positions,” he said.

“At the moment, our No. 1 tagger is Jordie McKenzie, and if Jordie’s injured, we have no one else to do that job. So we have a responsibility to the team and to the club and to our supporters … to develop a range of depth in those positions, so that if it’s not Jordie McKenzie, it can be a Jack Grimes or a Matthew Jones or whoever we decide it to be.

“So we’ll continue to explore and develop guys to increase our flexibility to play in different positions.”