DEFENDER Colin Garland is adamant there is light at the end of the tunnel for the Demons.
Garland, who has been one of Melbourne’s best this season, said his faith in the club hadn’t wavered, despite the tumultuous times it has faced in recent seasons.
“I’ve always maintained belief in the club,” he said following Melbourne’s 31-point loss to the Sydney Swans at the MCG on Sunday.
“In a lot of ways, with what [former coach] Mark [Neeld] did, it’s really held us in good stead. It was just crippling, unfortunately, the attention we were having at the time. It was an untenable situation that we were in.
“But the lessons we’ve learned off the field are going to hold us in good stead for the years to come. Whoever coaches us next year, I know that we’re in a lot better position than the last time a new coach came in, that’s for sure.”
Garland said having been an official leader of the club for the past two seasons had given him reason to believe the club was on the right track.
“From a player’s perspective and being fortunate enough to be involved in the leadership group, I haven’t lost any faith the whole way through,” he said.
“That’s why it was frustrating and emotional at the time, because I didn’t understand where we were at. I’ve never lost faith in the club’s direction.”
Garland said Melbourne’s manful display against the Swans was “a continuation of where we’re going”.
“I think we made some strides … Sydney will tell you that they had to play four quarters against us. Maybe earlier in the year, we [would’ve played] two and a half quarters and then we were gone … there were some areas of the game where we got showed up,” he said.
“The good thing is that you can’t go out into a shop and buy the experience we had today. Some of our young players, they got a good lesson in what it takes to be [a good side].
“Sydney is really the benchmark in those experiences, they’re great and you don’t get that for free, that’s for sure.”
As for the possibility of Neil Craig remaining coach into 2014 and beyond, Garland praised Melbourne’s incumbent, but said “we’ll have to wait and see”.
“At the moment, he’s in with us. He’s going to give us 11 rounds of all in, and after that we’ll see what happens,” he said.