Sacked Demons coach Neeld pleased by the club’s surge into finals
FORMER Melbourne coach Mark Neeld says he is happy to see the Demons back in the finals as he opens up on his controversial decision to name a pair of young captains during a tumultuous 18 months at the club.
Neeld was hired in 2012 with a mandate to clean out the Demons and invest in youth, but was sacked halfway through the next season after winning just one game from the first 11 rounds — and five of 33 overall.
His decision to appoint then-22-year-old Jack Grimes and Jack Trengove, then 21, as co-captains has been a source of major scorn.
But Neeld says the decision was made by the playing group, after a three-month exercise where each player articulated “the behaviours they wanted on a consistent basis on the training track, during matches (and) off the field”.
“To me, it was a clear statement by the player group as to the type of person and the type of actions they wanted to lead, that’s what it came down to,” he said on Fox Footy’s Open Mike last night.
Neeld said he was not shocked when the axe fell after Round 11, given chief executive Cameron Schwab resigned in April of 2012 — two years into a four-year deal — and then- president Don McLardy stood down two months later.
“When Cameron Schwab was removed as CEO, there was a shifting of ideas,” he said.
“Cameron was fantastic in supporting, saying this is going to be a long-term proposition: ‘We’re going to go ahead and the list is going to be culled, go with the young kids, it’s going well, I can see things changing.’
“When key personnel get removed, there’s a little bit of oh, hang on, I wonder how this is going to go. So it wasn’t a complete shock.”
Neeld says he’s pleased to see the Demons in the finals after 12 years in the wilderness.
“In my time in the AFL, I’ve met some great people and there are still a number of people at Melbourne, on the field and off the field, that I’ve got good relationships with, shared some really tough times with,” he said.