Under-fire Melbourne co-captain Jack Grimes believes his leadership will be better for the baptism of fire he’s received this AFL season.

The decision to appoint Grimes, 23, and 20-year-old Jack Trengove as youthful club captains has been questioned, especially in the wake of a disastrous start to the season.

But the Demons’ stunning six-point upset of Essendon at the MCG on Saturday night has at least temporarily eased the pressure on coach Mark Neeld, Grimes and Trengove.

Grimes, one of the Dees’ outstanding performers in the 8.10 (58) to 6.16 (52) triumph, is confident the club’s early difficulties will prove a valuable lesson for him and Trengove.

“When Jack and I were appointed captains at the start of the year, we knew we were very inexperienced, we had a lot to learn and we had a lot of development to go,” Grimes told the Nine Network’s Sunday Footy Show.

“We feel like … through this period, it has been very tough and we’ve struggled through it, but we’ve learned a lot along the way.

“I think we’ll really be better for it out the other end.”

The Demons lost their first nine games of the season before Saturday night’s win.

But Grimes said Melbourne had gone into the match believing they were on track for a victory sooner rather than later.

“We showed the last few weeks that internally we’ve been building towards it (a win),” Grimes said.

“The training’s really gone to another notch and it just feels like a different club at the moment.

“But we know it’s only one win and it’s really been our only four-quarter effort for the year, so we’ve still got plenty of work to do.”