At quarter-time Melbourne was six goals in arrears and without any realistic hope of winning.
Neeld said he would have loved to call time-out during that opening stanza in order to restore some order.
"But I can't, so we need to tough it out," Neeld said after the loss.
Co-captain Jack Grimes - a solid performer on the day - was direct and to the point: "The game is over at quarter time and we just can't cop that," Grimes said.
"It is killing us at the moment: these run-ons that teams are getting and we just can't stop it. We have to seriously look at ourselves and find something to stop it because otherwise we're just going to keep losing games of footy."
The fact Melbourne fought back to draw within 24 points before losing by 42 points was gallant but hardly bought smiles to the faces of those leading the Demons.
"That first quarter wasn't what we saw last week ... and that was really disappointing and our challenge is to eradicate as many of those [average quarters] as we can," Neeld said.
Neeld pointed out that the Demons had played three good teams in the past three weeks and played 10 competitive quarters.
He said it was a collective responsibility to adjust to the game's demands when the opposition is hitting the scoreboard.
"The 21 involved at that given moment all have to be getting themselves sorted," Neeld said. "You only need two or three players not to be on their game or being beaten or, at times, [put in] a couple of poor efforts and everyone cops it."
Grimes said players became "fumbly" and "panicky" during that first quarter as Collingwood attacked Melbourne and did not respond as needed. "We just have to crack in harder and slow the game up," Grimes said. ?
Grimes described Collingwood's pressure in the first quarter and a half as "unbelievable" and Neeld admitted the team needed to improve its decision making under the heat of battle.
The coach resisted any temptation to blame individuals for costly mistakes during the game.
Neeld admitted the response in the middle two quarters was heartening, enough to provide a renewed resolve to work hard during the second half of the season.
During that time Melbourne kicked six goals to Collingwood's one to draw within four goals.
Grimes said the players still thought they were in with a winning chance at three-quarter time but again they could not cope when the Magpies stepped up the intensity at the start of the last quarter.
"We fought back again after that but it was almost too late. The gap was too big and we could not bridge it," Grimes said.
After the bye, Melbourne faces Greater Western Sydney, an important game in the context of their season.
"We need to turn them [positives] into some serious winning quarters. That is our challenge as a team," Neeld said. "As a team and individuals we need a sense of urgency in the back half of the year."
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the AFL or its clubs
