MELBOURNE recruit Daniel Cross wants to play alongside teammates that are "hell bent on winning games".
After experiencing the third biggest loss of his 212-game career when part of the Demons’ 93-point loss to West Coast on Sunday, Cross said every individual needed to accept responsibility towards his performance and keep his mindset strong in order to improve.
"We have got to get away from the mentality of it's just another big loss. It has got to really hurt and burn inside each individual and you can't accept it. Every individual has got to make a change," Cross told AFL.com.au.
"We can't just expect supporters to say 'at least they tried this week'. Well, no … bugger that. I want to play with players that are just hell bent on winning games and have a mindset of winning games so I need to be pushing guys to think that way."
Cross is not just talking tough.
He understands there is no quick fix to his new club's plight.
That won't be news to Melbourne supporters.
After all, the club has entered round three without a win next to its name for nine consecutive seasons and has not played a final since 2006.
But perhaps hearing the experienced midfielder detail what is required for eventual success will provide some hope.
"What it takes is days, weeks, months and years of just toiling away time after time and creating good habits," Cross said.
Cross knows what it takes for teams to move up the ladder.
He played in a winning team just five times in his first 24 games (and three seasons) at the Bulldogs after making his debut in 2002.
In those first three seasons the club finished no higher than 12th on the ladder.
By 2006 he was playing his first final and between 2008-2010 he played in three consecutive preliminary finals.
He says that hard work and time together eventually led to the Bulldogs competing for a spot in a Grand Final.
Of course, the question many are asking after the weekend is whether the players that have been at Melbourne for a while now – with notable exceptions such as Nathan Jones – are prepared to do what is required to achieve, at least, what the Bulldogs did.
Many of Melbourne's players have started their careers with winning records that match Cross' at the start of his career.
In fact 18 of Melbourne's 22 on Sunday have career winning records of 26 per cent or lower.
Only imports, Cross, Shannon Byrnes, Bernie Vince and Cameron Pederson have a winning percentage above that figure.
Despite this Cross does not doubt the first, second and third-year talent he has seen on the track at Melbourne. He says few of them have had the time required to flourish.
"These guys have got so much improvement to go, not even so much as individuals but as a team and working together and playing together week after week. That is what makes a good team," Cross said.
Many Demon supporters have heard that before and are impatient. Cross is too. It's part of his nature.
"It will take time but we just have to keep working away at our craft," Cross said.
He admits that on the field Melbourne's trust in each other and their own skills needs to improve.
Off the field he describes the group as tight. On it he says they need to take a lead from teams such as Geelong who back themselves and their skills.
The words of teammate Shannon Byrnes – who played in two flags with the Cats – resonate with Cross: "Whether they hit a target or not, they were willing to back themselves in and they trusted themselves because they practised it over many, many years. We have to get to that stage eventually where we trust our leg, trust the guy who is leading to us and hit those targets. You may miss a few but [eventually] the reward will be better."
A review the players conducted after Sunday's lamentable effort opened a few eyes to the impact small mistakes can have. The players have 20 rounds to become a better team. There is no time to waste.
"I'm in for the ride," Cross said. "There are going to be down times and I'm hoping there is going to be some good times as well."
