Melbourne coach Mark Neeld is confident his AFL side can avoid being distracted by the Liam Jurrah saga as they prepare for the coming season.

The Demons coach said he had yet to talk the indigenous forward, who was charged on Friday in Alice Springs over an alleged machete attack.

While Neeld said he will speak with Jurrah about the situation “sooner rather than later”, he said the focus for himself and the rest of the team had to remain on-field.

“It’s a unique situation and no one in this room is going to understand all the issues that go with it and that includes me,” Neeld told reporters on Saturday night, after the Demons’ big pre-season loss to Hawthorn.

“Firstly, right now, it’s a matter for the law to sort out and they will.

“Footy teams need to be defined by what happens on the ground.

“I’m his footy coach, there are people who are qualified in those (other) areas and they’ll deal with that.”

Jurrah is due to reappear in court on May 17.

But Neeld said regardless of what happened with the criminal proceedings, the Demons had expected to be without Jurrah for a long period anyway, as he works his way back from a wrist injury.

“It’s been well documented that he wasn’t going to play in the first half of the year anyway, due to injury, so I haven’t factored him into anything,” Neeld said.

Asked whether Saturday night’s 79-point loss to the Hawks, when Melbourne managed just 0.6.8 (44), showed how much they would miss the forward, Neeld gave a curt reply.

“You reckon Liam Jurrah is going to help me with the missed tackle count,” he said, referring to the minimal pressure his side placed on Hawthorn.