MELBOURNE players have doused claims the club is in crisis and say they are united behind coach Mark Neeld's long-term vision after receiving a 108-point hammering from West Coast at Patersons Stadium on Saturday.

The Demons conceded 78 inside 50s (the record is 80) and only got the ball in their attacking arc 32 times in the most lopsided game of the season, a performance compounded following a week of headlines surrounding the club.

Clark was one of the few bright lights for Melbourne with five goals.

"We are two rounds in, we are not in crisis talks at the moment. We know what we dished up is not good enough, we are professional athletes," Clark told AFL.com.au.

"Neeld has had a pretty tough initiation into the League but he's a strong guy and he has got all the players' support and all the footy club's support.

"He is trying to build something here and the players are totally behind him in that and everyone is buying in, so we just need to continue to work hard on the track and continue to learn what he is trying to put in place and develop as a group."

The loss saw the Demons' percentage plummet to just 47.7, above only GWS (37.0) who are due to play North Melbourne on Sunday.

It was a record loss against West Coast and the highest score Melbourne has conceded against the Eagles.

Youngster Tom McDonald, in just his third AFL game, was another to show plenty of pluck, and said Neeld's game-plan would take time to learn.

"We hate losing, no-one likes to lose by that much but we are just trying to get better," McDonald said.

"There are little things that we are happy with, there are things we are not happy with but it is a completely new regime this year.

"We are building towards something so we can't be too disappointed about every round we lose.

"We want to get to where West Coast is at the moment, they are really pushing for a premiership this year and we want to be there sooner rather than later and that's what we think we can build towards.

"There is no point on just looking at all the negatives."

Clark was shattered by his effort in round one that earned criticism from AFL legend Leigh Matthews. But, like the team, he said he needed to move on.

"I was really disappointed with my effort last week. I built myself up for a big game and let myself down and my teammates down," Clark said.

"It was good to get on the end of a few and kick a couple [on Saturday]. I just want us as a team to go really well and I really hate losing.

"I don't really read into that sort of stuff (media criticism), that's outside perceptions. What I worry about is what my teammates and my coaches think of me.

"Last week wasn't up to scratch, this week was, hopefully … the rest of the weeks through the year are as well.

"We'll hurt for 24 hours but you've got to learn to move on.
 
"We are professional footballers and our job is to perform and our preparation on the track just has to be elite and our job as players and coaches is to move on quickly to the next week.

"Now we've got to focus on our recovery … just get ready for the Tigers."

Melbourne plays Richmond on Saturday afternoon at the MCG.