VETERAN Melbourne skipper David Neitz will decide this week whether to take on the team captaincy for a ninth season.
New Demons coach Dean Bailey told the Sunday Herald Sun, "David Neitz is Melbourne.
"He's 100 per cent Melbourne, is committed to Melbourne, is a great leader and he's got the aura about him here.”
Bailey said Neitz had been offered the captaincy again, and would make his decision to accept or reject it this week.
He also was confident the Demons had assembled a premiership quality off-field team.
Bailey’s three assistant coaches -- Paul Williams, Josh Mahoney and Sean Wellman -- are premiership players, while football manager Chris Connolly is a former AFL coach.
Melbourne players have returned to "school" over the pre-season to learn Bailey’s game plan and be tested each week on the coach's tactics.
"I think it's important to have people who are really driven," he said.
"If you're driven and you want to get better at what you do everyday, success is going to be the result at the end of that.
"We're also trying to get the footballs involved as much as we can. Our fitness staff have been really good and they're also wanting footballs to be involved as part of the training.
"Even if there's a simple running drill, they're finding a way to get the footies in more.
"As you'd expect with a new coach and relatively new staff, there's a different feel about the place."