Having endured a nightmare start to his tenure as Melbourne coach, Mark Neeld is doing everything possible to put this week’s race-related drama behind him.
Neeld said the stress and hurt he had felt over the past couple of days would now be put aside as he prepared his team for Saturday’s daunting round-two assignment against AFL top-four contenders West Coast in Perth.
The rookie coach told a media conference on Wednesday it would be a simple task for him to tell his players to close the book on the controversy that has swirled around the Demons this week.
“Yeah it is for me,” Neeld said.
“I’m disappointed. No one wants to go through that.
“It’s done, it’s over.
“They are professional AFL-level footballers. That’s their job.”
Melbourne’s latest controversy follows a dramatic start to the year which has included the death of club saviour Jim Stynes and the arrest of forward Liam Jurrah on assault charges.
Neeld insisted he would not seek to discover the identity of the person who falsely alleged he had spoken with the Demons’ non-indigenous players individually over the pre-season, but only addressed indigenous players as a group.
The issue became public when ex-St Kilda coach Grant Thomas wrote about it on Monday in an online column before withdrawing the comments after Neeld told him the allegation was untrue.
Jason Mifsud, the AFL’s national community engagement manager and most senior indigenous employee, had offered his resignation to league boss Andrew Demetriou after admitting passing on the allegations to his close friend Thomas.
Mifsud’s comments indicated he had heard the allegation from a Melbourne indigenous player.
The Demons’ most senior indigenous player Aaron Davey has since denied he was the club source who spoke to Mifsud.
The AFL is refusing to reveal the original source of the allegation.
“It’s not high on my priorities, no,” Neeld said when asked if he wanted to learn the identity of the original source.
“We’ll deal with it if it crops up. I just want to move on.
“The last 48 hours have been pretty stressful for me.
“I know it’s an industry that has the media spotlight.
“I believe my part in all this was done and dusted yesterday.”
The Demons coach said he had spoken to Davey about the allegation three weeks ago following media inquiries, and again on Tuesday.
Neeld said Davey had his full support, although the utility has another hurdle to climb at selection this week following a poor game last weekend against Brisbane.
Neeld said he hadn’t thought about whether he would take legal action against Thomas or the ninemsn.com.au website.
Neeld denied his relationship with the club’s indigenous players had been harmed by the issue.
He said he’d received great support from rival coaches.
“Most people have feelings themselves and when people are wrongly accused of things, no one likes it,” Neeld said.
