MIDFIELDER Nathan Jones has painted a fascinating portrait of a team in transition.
 
The most consistent Demon in 2012 was asked on Tuesday to explain how the team of the red and blue remained win-less after eight rounds.
 
He used the same direct approach that has helped him excel on the field against overwhelming odds this season.
 
"Personally I don't think it has become instinctive yet to play the structure and then play the game," Jones said.
 
Melbourne is attempting something with a high degree of difficulty: turning around the way the team functions on the field with an eye to eventually making the finals.
 
They are doing that in full view of supporters and observers.
 
If they were artists they would cover the canvas and lock the studio every night.
 
Unfortunately football teams don't have that luxury.
 
Particularly if they appear to be on their four or fifth draft.
 
So Jones is happy to explain why what supporters are seeing right now looks ugly on the scoreboard and quell some of the concern that the game-plan is too hard.
 
"The structure is reasonably simple in terms of what the coaches are trying to implement. It's a shift in how we want to play. It's learning it and then it's [about] becoming so instinctive and ingrained that it just happens," Jones said.

"You get to the right position and it unfolds that you play footy from there."
 
This is part of the hard edge of elite sport: first repeating the action until it becomes instinctive and then continually adjusting to get better. ?

It's like trying to perfect a new gymnastics routine or adjusting a golf swing.
 
It takes time and the less ingrained the earlier instincts, the easier change becomes.

"We are still encouraged to play on instinct: 'play the game, play the game'. You make the decision out on the ground, which is something we are really working on. We are still developing that side of our game as a playing group. At the moment we are still probably finding that right balance," Jones said.  

Perhaps those words explain better than most why some veterans are struggling to play at their best for the Demons right now.
 
Despite perceptions, encouragement underpins the teaching process.
 
"He could not be any more open and encouraging," Jones said of the coach Mark Neeld. "It is easy to walk in and talk to him about his performance, whether you are going good, bad or indifferent. He's open to giving feedback and trying to help you along."
 
The process has certainly helped Jones along although he describes his own form as only reasonable in a disappointing start.
 
"The biggest influence has been the confidence the coaches have shown in my ability," Jones said.

"They have really instilled a belief that I can get to where I want to get to. I do have a lot of confidence in where we are heading."
 
He hopes the team will click soon but says he does not waste any time worrying about when that might happen.
 
Rather, he spends time working on his game. And, hopefully for his sake, having a joke here and there.
 
Just to make sure the positive mindset re-appears each week, the leadership group has a 24-hour rule, banning moping a day after a loss.
 
Don't mistake the positive approach for enjoyment however.
 
Eight losses in succession is not easy to take, particularly in a 122-game career that has seen  just 31 wins.
 
"It's tough. I hate losing," Jones said.
 
He is also realistic enough to admit that areas easier to fix were not being displayed often enough either.
 
He said the team has lacked four-quarter efforts. And effort is one area that should be instinctive. 
 
"Every player has been held accountable to stuff that isn't acceptable to the brand of footy we want to play," Jones said.

"It's not like it is swept under the carpet. We do talk about it. Players are held accountable and we try to move on and improve."
 
He sympathises with supporters but retains faith in the coach, the club and what is required from now on and shakes his head at some of the more extreme criticism being directed at the coach.
 
"The criticism of Neeldy has been unwarranted but that is footy and as a footy club we have stood up to that," Jones said.

"They (senior members of the football department) have come from clubs that are really successful and they saw that as an entire footy club, across the board, we needed to lift our performance. Before we even played footy we needed to lift our performance in training, and preparation and recovery and those types of things."
 
Eight games into a turnaround and the picture being painted is nowhere near complete.
 
"We want to be a footy club that plays finals footy," Jones said. "We want to be known as an elite team."