MELBOURNE co-captain Jack Grimes says Neil Craig has the passion to take on the Demons' senior coaching job beyond this season.

Craig has held the caretaker position since the sacking of Mark Neeld last Monday, and his enthusiasm for the role hasn't been lost on the players.

"He is definitely keen for the job," Grimes said.

"He's got the footy boots out and the socks up and the short-shorts on. I think just in one week guys have seen a pretty different side to Craigy.

"It's a very different role overseeing all the coaches and the development role to being head coach.

You really saw that switch in his mindset, I think, when he was speaking to the group and the way he presented himself around the club.

"I definitely think the passion's still there for him."

The Demons suffered their eleventh loss of the season on Saturday, going down to St Kilda by 35 points.

While Craig couldn't conjure a win in his first game at the helm, there were signs of change in the way the team played.

"There were some good signs," Grimes said.

"There were some good patches I thought, where we ran some good passages of play.

"It's still pretty obvious that our skills let us down on occasions, and we lacked that bit of execution, especially in front of goal.

"That was probably the aim during the week … to have that sort of 'shackles off' mentality with the footy, and give that first option, and not be afraid to kick that extra ball and give that extra handball, and it probably showed.

"It got us into trouble a few times, where we were probably overusing the ball at times but it really worked for us on occasions as well. We looked really good at times."

Grimes says he's one to two weeks away from returning to senior football, having recovered from a collarbone injury.