MELBOURNE co-captain Jack Grimes saysNeil Craig has the passion to take on the Demons' senior coaching job beyondthis season.
Craig has held the caretakerposition since the sacking of Mark Neeld last Monday, and his enthusiasm forthe role hasn't been lost on the players.
"He is definitely keen forthe job," Grimes said.
"He's got the footy bootsout and the socks up and the short-shorts on. I think just in one week guys haveseen a pretty different side to Craigy.
"It's a very different role overseeingall the coaches and the development role to being head coach.
You really saw that switch in hismindset, I think, when he was speaking to the group and the way he presentedhimself around the club.
"I definitely think thepassion's still there for him."
The Demons suffered theireleventh loss of the season on Saturday, going down to St Kilda by 35 points.
While Craig couldn't conjure awin in his first game at the helm, there were signs of change in the way theteam played.
"There were some goodsigns," Grimes said.
"There were some goodpatches I thought, where we ran some good passages of play.
"It's still pretty obviousthat our skills let us down on occasions, and we lacked that bit of execution,especially in front of goal.
"That was probably the aim duringthe week … to have that sort of 'shackles off' mentality with the footy, and givethat first option, and not be afraid to kick that extra ball and give thatextra handball, and it probably showed.
"It got us into trouble afew times, where we were probably overusing the ball at times but it reallyworked for us on occasions as well. We looked really good at times."
Grimes says he's one to two weeksaway from returning to senior football, having recovered from a collarboneinjury.
Jacqui Reed is a reporter at AFLMedia. Follow her on Twitter @JacquiReedAFL
