DESPITE a disappointing season, which has produced two wins to date, coach Mark Neeld remains steadfast his core group of youngsters will make an impact long-term.
Speaking at AAMI Park on Thursday, Neeld indicated several changes would be made over the off-season, but overall he believes the nucleus of his team’s list will take the Demons up the ladder from next year and beyond.
“We know exactly the experience of our group and what we’re trying to do and we’ve got a really good group of young players in particular,” he said.
“We need to do a bit of reshaping to our list, but we’ve got a core group of players that will be really good for our footy club.
“We’ve got great faith in them and they’re professional AFL players.”
Neeld said the fact that Melbourne had one of the most inexperienced lists in the competition - based on games experience and age - was a genuine factor in its 2012 fortunes.
“We’ve averaged, every time we’ve played a game of footy this year, 65 games of experience per player,” he said.
“We’ve seen some improvements with a whole heap of areas and we also know that nearly 150 games of AFL footy have been played this year and only three times has the winner had less than 65 games of experience.
“We know where we are in terms of an age bracket and an experience bracket.”
Neeld said the club had put “a lot of faith” in its young players and he expects that group will deliver against another inexperienced line-up, Gold Coast Suns, when the two sides meet at the MCG on Sunday.
“They’re showing some improvement and we’ll be up against a side of similar experience, so it’s a really good opportunity to put our best foot forward,” he said.
“Both sides are similar in terms of experience. If we manage to field a side with more experience than the opposition - that’s only going to be the second time for the year.
“In terms of that, it should be a really close tussle.”
Speaking at AAMI Park on Thursday, Neeld indicated several changes would be made over the off-season, but overall he believes the nucleus of his team’s list will take the Demons up the ladder from next year and beyond.
“We know exactly the experience of our group and what we’re trying to do and we’ve got a really good group of young players in particular,” he said.
“We need to do a bit of reshaping to our list, but we’ve got a core group of players that will be really good for our footy club.
“We’ve got great faith in them and they’re professional AFL players.”
Neeld said the fact that Melbourne had one of the most inexperienced lists in the competition - based on games experience and age - was a genuine factor in its 2012 fortunes.
“We’ve averaged, every time we’ve played a game of footy this year, 65 games of experience per player,” he said.
“We’ve seen some improvements with a whole heap of areas and we also know that nearly 150 games of AFL footy have been played this year and only three times has the winner had less than 65 games of experience.
“We know where we are in terms of an age bracket and an experience bracket.”
Neeld said the club had put “a lot of faith” in its young players and he expects that group will deliver against another inexperienced line-up, Gold Coast Suns, when the two sides meet at the MCG on Sunday.
“They’re showing some improvement and we’ll be up against a side of similar experience, so it’s a really good opportunity to put our best foot forward,” he said.
“Both sides are similar in terms of experience. If we manage to field a side with more experience than the opposition - that’s only going to be the second time for the year.
“In terms of that, it should be a really close tussle.”
