THE DELIVERY is dry, but you can bet your life that he's not going to say anything he doesn't mean to say.

Dean Bailey is only in his first season as senior coach at Melbourne, but halfway through the first year he's showing himself to be a consummate media performer, swatting away controversial topics with the ease of Roger Federer at the Wimbledon net.

Possibly surprising for a bloke who spent the last six years working with Mark Williams and Kevin Sheedy, neither of whom have ever been known to run from a headline.

But with just one win on the board after three months of the season, it's been a tough year for Bailey. Those who know him well say he's a funny man, and while he's not setting out to have media conferences roaring with laughter, the wry sense of humour is there to see. Think BBC, not CBS.

First, we had the bag of cliché's being dug into, albeit with wry self-awareness. "Week-to-week – I've been dying to say that, 'week-to-week'," was the response when asked about Sydney this Sunday, and the fact that every match was a significant challenge for the Demons.

The stories about Melbourne looking to relocate to Canberra? Easy. "I think the club's keen to promote Melbourne where we can, and obviously in the capital, Canberra, would be an ideal opportunity.

"But from our point of view, the game is important, how we play is important." (Back on topic nicely, avoiding those nasty traps set by journalists.

Then, it was the controversial issue of the night grand final: "If and when we get to that last day in September, Tom, if they've decided that it's a twilight game, or whatever, and the Melbourne Football Club is there, and I'm coaching, I'll play any time, any where, to have that opportunity.

"They'll make the decision without listening to what I've got to say. The decision will be made purely on … probably an economic basis from the television networks who put a lot of money into football, who keep us all employed and keep us in an environment and industry that we all enjoy being involved in.

"We'll play at any time. If it's during the day, great – a day grand final's been a tradition, I'm not sure what a night grand final would do or bring, but until you experience it, you don't know.

"If we can play on that day, I'm very happy to play at any time."