MELBOURNE coach Dean Bailey says he is disappointed Cameron Bruce has decided to quit the Demons but hinted his spot on the list could be taken by disgruntled Magpie John Anthony.

Bailey said he still had hopes that Bruce would play a role for the Demons before announcing his decision to quit over the weekend.

"I must admit I was disappointed Cameron decided to move on," Bailey said on Monday morning.

"We offered him a one-year deal hoping he could help us next year. He's a guy who plays lots of games, lots of footy. So yeah, it is disappointing - no doubt about that.

"Like all football clubs you swallow it, you get on with it and try to move forward with what you've got. I am disappointed he's taken this decision to leave a club he's spent over 220 games with."

Anthony quit the Magpies last week after struggling to break into the side in 2010.

Bailey said the Demons would be negligent not to at least discuss recruiting him.

"He's kicked 50 in a year in the AFL," Bailey said. "Not too many players have done that before.

"He would be one of many names who have got the necessary experience who you'd probably have a bit of a discussion about."

Bruce's departure along with that of James McDonald has left the youthful Melbourne list as one of the most inexperienced in the AFL.

But Bailey said that just meant that young players could thrive with extra responsibility.

"Cameron will be a loss, absolutely because of the nature of his experience. It's not just playing experience. Off the field he's been very good with our players," Bailey said.

"We've got a lot of emerging players who are going to grab hold of this football club and be around in the next four, five, seven, eight, nine years.

"It's a great challenge for them but you do need leadership, you do lose experience but it means you can put leadership and experience into the next group of players coming through."

Bailey said a raft of young Demons could play Bruce's role across half-back.

"Someone like James Strauss is a chance. We drafted him a couple of years ago and he's just starting to get over a couple of years of injury," Bailey said.

"We've obviously got (Jack) Grimes who can play at half-back and play a similar role to what Cam's played.

"Someone like Cale Morton can also play that type of role. Colin Garland has always shown an opportunity to play on the similar sorts of players that Brucey has - the guys who can play up the ground. Garlo's a very good decision maker as the other three guys that I've mentioned are."