Melbourne captain David Neitz threw his support behind AFL coach Neale Daniher, declaring the Demons were steeled to ease the pressure on their embattled mentor.

Daniher has endured another tough week in the wake of his team's insipid showing against the bottom-placed Western Bulldogs and Neitz said Melbourne was determined to make amends Saturday night against Geelong at the MCG.

"You look through the media during the week and you see the back page of the Herald Sun (newspaper say) `No spirit, no desire', and all those sort of things," Neitz said.

"If you're going to be willing to cop that then we're no good as a side and as a bunch of blokes."

Later Neitz said Daniher, in his sixth season as coach at Melbourne, was still the best man for the job despite having the Demons slip to 14th and out of finals contention by round 19.

"Yeah he is, he is," Neitz said.

"He's a fantastic leader and he's got a lot of strength and I think he's showing that at these times of adversity at the moment.

"I think he's very strong and a courageous leader."

Both Melbourne and Geelong (13th) have endured a bleak past month, but there should be no shortage of ammunition ahead of Saturday night's clash.

As the AFL's two oldest clubs, the Demons and Cats will kick off the heritage-themed round 19 in a repeat of the clash first played in 1860.

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