COACH Mark Neeld says he told his charges to do it for the Melbourne supporters at three quarter time, which sparked a club record 12.2 final quarter.

Although Neeld offered a few key points in his three quarter time address, he pressed the importance of giving the red and blue faithful something in the final 30 minutes to hang its hat on.

“It’s been difficult to be a Melbourne supporter … they’ll get behind us, because they’re a really passionate group,” he said.

“They’re the things that we talked about … they’re a resilient bunch of young boys and we showed in the last quarter that the young boys kept going.

“Today might be the only time for the year that we take the ground with more experience … out there in that last quarter, guys like Nathan Jones, Colin Sylvia, Mark Jamar, Colin Garland and the two captains – they were almost the most experienced players on the ground, and that’s what happens when you get a run on and it’s hard to stop.”

Neeld said he also touched on the other areas at the final change address.

“Coaches try not to give too many pointers at the quarter time breaks, because the theory book says once you get over five points, you’re in trouble, and it’s hard to remember much,” he said.

“Things I spoke to the boys about at three quarter time – it was a little bit about the game style that we needed to keep going. We spoke about that. That was the simple stuff – that reinforced how we trained.

“I certainly made mention to them about the spirit that the playing group has shown over the last however long.”

Neeld said he kept his nerve heading into the final term, but remaining focused on the job at hand.

“Competitive sport is not for emotional decisions,” he said.

“I’m surrounded by some really good people – the assistant coaches and Neil Craig’s role.

“Boring old stuff that the world hates and you guys (the media) never write, because it never sells papers – stick to the process and the plan and that’s what we do. It’s not as exciting as what people think, working inside a footy club.”

Meanwhile, Neeld confirmed the club had addressed the issue of the investigation by ASADA and the AFL into a pre-season supplements program at the club, but did not comment on the situation.

“[Football manager] Josh Mahoney and [director of sports performance] Craigy (Neil Craig) spoke to the group – it was a summary,” he said.

“Footy clubs are like the companies you guys work for – everyone knows what they’ve got to do. You guys (the media) gather research, ring your people and write your stories and other people put them in the paper. Our jobs are to get training and work with these boys and continue to get going, so it doesn’t really impact.”

Neeld said if he had to miss a training session, he had three assistant coaches, three development coaches and another fairly handy coach by his side.

“They’re all extremely competent and I reckon Craigy is pretty useful. He might be able to take a training session, if I’m not around,” he said.

“Our club doesn’t have as many staff as some of the others, but we’ve got enough. We’ll be all right.”