FORMER Melbourne star and Brownlow medallist Shane Woewodin has thrown his support behind the club as it goes about resurrecting itself.
Now a Brisbane Lions assistant coach, Woewodin said, watching from
a distance, he was sad to see Melbourne's predicament.
However, he was confident the Demons were heading in the right direction.
He said interim coach and former teammate Todd Viney would do a fantastic job in taking over from Dean Bailey, while club great Garry Lyon was the right
man for the football director's role.
"They've gone through a hard trot of late on and off field. Obviously the debacle
against the Cats last week wasn't a great result but they've shown great initiative
now and hopefully going forward they can get a better result," he said.
"Garry's a past great of the club and to get all your great players around and
assist somehow and help out is fantastic for the club, and it's great to see Garry
on the front foot and helping out.
"I spent six fantastic years there as a player around some great people. It's a
fantastic footy club, it's got a great history and I was a very proud Melbourne
player.
"It's sad to see but I'm very sure with great people around they'll come out with
flying colours."
Woewodin was positive the Demons would get the best man available to fill
Bailey's boots long term, but said he was happy in Brisbane for the time
being working under Michael Voss.
The Lions play Adelaide at the Gabba on Sunday afternoon and Woewodin said
he was wary of a Crows team that had undergone changes of its own recently.
While not expecting any major changes under the coaching of Mark Bickley
- who took over from Neil Craig before last week's Showdown win over Port
Adelaide - the Lions know they may be in for a surprise or two.
"You might tinker with a couple of things with a new coach but it wouldn't
change a hell of a lot I wouldn't think," Woewodin said.
"It's all about attitude and mindsets and what's played above the shoulders."
The Lions will introduce their 11th debutant for the season, with Josh Dyson
playing his first game.
"He adds a lot of speed to our team which is fantastic, [he's a] left footer, he's just got some real spunk about him and we're looking forward to him getting in and doing what he can do for the team," Woewodin said.
Michael Whiting covers Brisbane Lions news for afl.com.au. Follow him on
Twitter: @mike_whiting
