Melbourne coach Mark Neeld says he and his players have not been affected by the AFL club being dragged into the Australian sports anti-doping investigation.
And he doesn’t believe the AFL and ASADA’s probe into the club’s links with former Essendon sports scientist Stephen Dank will be an ongoing distraction for his team after they finally chalked up their first win of the season on Sunday.
The embattled Demons averted another potential train wreck with a come-from-behind 41-point win over Greater Western Sydney Giants at the MCG.
It was done the hard way – the Demons trailing by 19 points at three-quarter time before booting a club record 12.2 in the final term to win 22.12 (144) to 15.13 (103).
Neeld was not willing to publicly discuss the specifics of the matter, including what he knew of the links with Dank he had prior to the revelation on Thursday of text messages between the man central to the wider investigation and Melbourne’s club doctor Dan Bates.
But he said his players were not unsettled by the firestorm prior to the match, and doesn’t believe the promise of a drawn-out investigation will affect them either.
“I’m really confident in the people that run that side of our footy club and the processes we’ve got in place,” Neeld said.
“We support the investigation through ASADA and the AFL … let’s wait for their findings, and go from there.
“I doubt it (will cause a distraction to players and coaches).”
The Demons looked the better side early, pushing out to a 16-point lead late in the first quarter with a far better tackling effort than recent weeks.
But the Giants grafted their way into it as the Demons relaxed, kicking five successive goals in the second quarter to lead by 13 points before goalsneak Shannon Byrnes’ third of the term reduced the halftime margin to seven.
The teams traded goals in a tense start to the third term, before the Giants lifted again.
With the scores level, they booted three successive goals to end the term including Setanta O’hAilpin’s fifth for a 19-point lead at the final change.
But three goals in the term to Demons midfielder Michael Evans, and a huge clutch goal to Jeremy Howe from the right-hand boundary line were the platform for Melbourne to seal a nerve-wracking victory.
Howe’s goal – with the Demons a point up and in desperate need of a spark – was the most critical of his four for the match.
Colin Garland, Nathan Jones and co-captain Jack Grimes were outstanding for the Demons as they poured on the goals from that point onwards.
O’hAilpin led GWS with five goals, while Adam Treloar had 30 touches.
Giants coach Kevin Sheedy said while the final quarter was disappointing as his team remained winless, the developing side had produced their best three quarters of the season.
“We kicked the highest score we’ve kicked for the season in the first three quarters,” Sheedy said.
“But the last quarter … we didn’t have enough players get their hands on the footy.”