MELBOURNE co-captain Jack Trengove has urged supporters to stick with the beleaguered club, saying the foundations for success were being laid.
The Demons are mired second from the bottom with a percentage of just 50.74 and face the also-winless Western Bulldogs at the MCG on Sunday evening in the Jim Stynes Tribute match.
Trengove took to the SEN 1116 airwaves on Thursday morning, asking Melbourne fans to stick true as the club overhauled its gameplan and adjusted to the demands of their new coach, Mark Neeld.
"It hasn't been an ideal start for us, being on the end of some really bad losses, and it is a really hard to tell the fans to keep coming back and sticking with us," Trengove said.
"It's not going to change at the click of the fingers but the players and other coaches really believe in what 'Neeldy' is trying to do.
"We feel that if we keep attacking the game as we are and do what 'Neeldy' wants us to do, then we will get there. But it is going to take time," he said.
Trengove said there were major differences in how Neeld approaches the game compared to his predecessor at the Demons, Dean Bailey.
"I guess with the defensive side with 'Neeldy' coming in from Collingwood, they were pretty adamant there about the defensive side of the game and we have focused on that in the pre-season," he said.
"We now feel we have that base and it's about adding bits and pieces to the attacking side.
"It is different to what we're used to. We think we know it, but getting out there and completing it on game day is a whole different story."
Trengove said Melbourne's leadership group was coping well despite the poor start to the season.
"Obviously we would like to be winning games and having a few other things go our way off the field, but the young leadership group we have has a really strong base around it with Neil Craig and Jade Rawlings, who are pointing us in the right direction," he said.
"We're all still learning and it is all still new to us but I'm not feeling the pressure," he said.
Trengove lauded the work of Craig, the longtime former Adelaide coach who has also held high-performance jobs in sports such as cycling.
You can follow AFL Media senior writer Ashley Browne on Twitter at @afl_hashbrowne
