PAUL ROOS still believes Melbourne is an attractive proposition for out-of-contract stars despite the club's stuttering development.

The Demons mentor, who'll hand over the reigns to Simon Goodwin at the end of 2016, is confident his side is still making progress despite another inconsistent season. 

"We know we're better than we were two years ago, we know we're better than what we were last year," Roos told reporters at AAMI Park on Thursday morning.

Match preview: Collingwood v Melbourne

Roos insisted Melbourne was in a position to attract star talent on the open market. 

"Certainly my discussions over the past two years with guys like Bernie Vince, Heritier (Lumumba) and Crossy (Daniel Cross) show there's some real optimism," he said.  

"The message we get from managers is that absolutely they can see where we're heading as a club, they can see the group of young kids we're assembling. 

"I think the free agent model's a different model … they generally go to clubs (where) they think they can play finals. 

"We're a destination club, but clearly that bottom group doesn't seem to be able to attract the key free agents as (well as) the top group does.

Roos conceded meeting the expectations of supporters was tough.

"The fans go up and down and we go up and down.

"Are we as good as some of the Melbourne supporters feel we should be? Probably not.

"Clearly after the pain that Melbourne fans have been through, it's been a fair while, so I think that's the baggage we carry. 

"We've got to be careful it doesn't become too much of a burden for this coaching group."

Melbourne plays Collingwood on Saturday afternoon at the MCG.

The Magpies will be without key forward Travis Cloke, who kicked seven goals when they beat the Demons by 25 points on Queen's Birthday Monday in round 10.