THE REST of the competition take note: the Demons will no longer be bullied.

That was Melbourne coach Dean Bailey's emphatic message at his weekly press conference on Tuesday at AAMI Park.

What started off with the distribution of a press release outlining the club's move to allow 22-year-old Austin Wonaeamirri to return home to the Tiwi Islands for personal leave ended with Bailey sharply hitting back at the club's most recent critics - Carlton players and Collingwood coach Mick Malthouse.

He also didn't miss the match review panel, tribunal and appeals board when he made it clear the Demons were still very peeved at Jack Trengove's three-week suspension, which has now ended, for tackling Adelaide's Patrick Dangerfield in round seven.

The aggressive stance of the usually mild-mannered coach somewhat offset the news Wonaeamirri will be away from the club for an indefinite period as he continues to deal with the grief associated with the passing of his father Matthew and mentor Maurice Rioli late last year.

And with his departure added to the mounting injury list - with Michael Newton a new addition for the next six weeks - and three-game losing streak that comes after a successful month where the Demons rose as high as seventh on the ladder, the coach obviously decided that a strong message that emphasised unity and competitiveness was more than required.

Bailey opened the media call with an explanation for Wonaeamirri's trip, and showed the extent of his personal involvement in the 31-game player's plight when he revealed the young Demon had spent a week recently living at the Bailey residence.

He spoke of the evening walks he had taken with Wonaeamirri as the two tried to work out how best to tackle the young man's grief.

After signing off on the topic with a prediction Wonaeamirri would be back at the club within a few weeks, you could almost see Bailey brace himself for the inevitable question regarding the Carlton players' comments.

Sure enough, question No.1 was about the comments made by Dennis Armfield and Mitch Robinson after Friday night's game at the MCG, comments that implied the Blues had resorted to matching the Demons in a non-contested brand of football, which they believed was preferred by Bailey's men.

"Bruise-free footy. You insulted?" asked a reporter. 

Bailey didn't hold back: "I think our club is very insulted by it. We don't play bruise-free footy and it's an insult to the club, it's an insult to all our players and our supporters and it's very disappointing a player can come out and have that sort of an opinion."

The statistics do say the Demons aren't the best in the contested ball stakes. They lead only Gold Coast in that category after 10 rounds and are 40 behind the 15th-ranked side Adelaide.

Bailey emphasised his team's success in that area against St Kilda the week before. The Demons beat the Saints by six in the contested ball stakes but still lost the game by 20 points.

Against the Blues, they were sorely beaten, 151 to 125, in contested ball, which led to Brett Ratten's players expressing their view the Demons were, without using the actual word, soft.  

It's an implication that Bailey said would stay with his players until the round 20 rematch.

"I would think so," he said, when asked if there would be an extra incentive when the Demons next played the Blues.

"I think you can write that."

Ratten himself didn't escape Bailey's wrath. He had earlier tried to explain his players' comments as being taken out of context, and said they had referred to the Blues' own style and not that of the Demons.

"Has he been misquoted? Misinterpreted? That happens a lot, doesn't it? That's not how we've read it," a sharp Bailey said.

Then it was Malthouse's turn. The Collingwood coach made an inflammatory comment on Friday night on radio station SEN that 21-year-old Addam Maric was a "cheat" for trying to claim a goal against the Blues he didn't actually kick.
 
Bailey again: "It was absolutely over the top. You've got a young man who's played less than 20 games and for someone like Mick, and the position that he holds, for him to very quickly jump down the throat of a young man and call him that is inappropriate."
 
"For someone who's been in the game for such a long period of time, I don't think it’s one, appropriate, and I think that's also very offensive as well."
 
Malthouse later said Maric's reaction had been "spontaneous" and backed away from the comment as the young Demon had not persisted with his wrongful pursuit of the six points.

The Demons will get back Trengove - and Lynden Dunn and probably Tom Scully this week - but Bailey found it hard to ignore the circumstances that saw them lose Trengove, the No.2 draft selection from 2009, in the first place.

"We've seen a lot of tackling going on in the last few weeks as well and the intent of the tackle, I think most of you have seen a lot of the tackles that have gone on," he said.
 
"I'm not sure if there is anything too different than what Jack had put through.
 
"If you only keep looking at the games that have been played, and there are a few of instances where blokes have been slung in tackles, but they seem to have been either forgotten, mainly because the person that has been tackled hasn't received a concussion.
 
"I'm just wondering if there's any player at the moment who's been tackled during the game and missed the following week due to a tackle."
 
Dangerfield, who didn't come back on after the incident but played the following week and booted six goals, influenced a sarcastic response from Bailey when asked what he thought about the young Crow's recovery.
 
"It was a good effort to come back and kick six. He's a very good player."

Bailey was also asked if the club had become an easy target in hindsight of these attacks.

"I think we're in a tough situation at the moment with where we're at, with our player depth being tested and our poor game last week Friday night," he said.

"Scrutiny comes on all of us and every part of the game gets scrutinised.

"People keep finding an angle to talk or write about so every week you get scrutinised and this week is no different.

"We need to play better footy on Friday night [against Essendon] because it's a big stage for us. We need to improve our output, our contested possession, but we also need to improve our effort, which is what Melbourne people want to see."

Yes, an improved effort is what Demon fans want to see this week.

In the meantime, there's a fair chance they'll be satisfied with their coach standing up for their club in what is certainly a challenging time.

The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the AFL or its clubs