Melbourne AFL coach Mark Neeld says the talk about Tom Scully’s grudge match against his former club on Sunday is coming from the media and not from the Demons’ camp.
Neeld says the the 2009 No.1 draft pick, who walked out on the Demons after two seasons to accept a massive offer to join new club Greater Western Sydney, has become just another opposition player.
Demons’ midfielder Nathan Jones is encouraging fans at the MCG to make their feelings known and barrack against Scully. Jones says it’s all good fun and will help build up a rivalry between the two clubs.
But for Neeld it’s all business on Sunday. The 16th-placed Demons (1-10) find themselves in the rare position of going into a game as favourites against the Giants, who are also on one win.
“There’s a lot of talk by you guys about Tom Scully. Not a lot of talk by us,” Neeld told a media conference on Thursday.
“Tom’s a young talented player. He had a really good duel with Brett Deledio last week.
“I’ve never met Tom. He seems like a young talented player who runs a fair bit, has got good skills and he’s playing for the opposition on Sunday.”
The Giants gave an impressive display last week in losing by two goals to Richmond at Showground Stadium, with No.1 draft pick Jonathon Patton kicking a goal and taking four marks in his long-awaited debut following knee surgery in January.
Neeld said the 197cm Patton and fellow teenager Jeremy Cameron, a high-leaping 195cm forward who booted three goals last week for a total of 18 this season, were serious players.
“We saw enough in one game of footy to say okay, he (Patton) is pretty good,” Neeld said.
“The other young fellow Cameron, he has been performing at a consistent level for quite a number of weeks.
“They’re serious players, no doubt.”
Neeld has endured a series of setbacks in his debut season as coach but he’s starting to get some rewards with a win over Essendon and some competitive patches of play against Carlton and Collingwood before last week’s bye.
“We’ve certainly in the last month shown some reasonable signs of improvement which is good,” he said.
However the Giants’ strong-bodied midfielders were well-suited to last week’s wet conditions and the Demons are expecting a tough slog on Sunday.
“I’ll tell my players that we’re really good in the wet and if the sun comes out, we’ll be really good (in the sun),” Neeld said.
