When All Blacks leadership guru and founder of Winning Teams Darren Shand was brought in to review Melbourne's processes, the external narrative was that the club was on its knees.
Following turmoil that stemmed from issues surrounding Joel Smith, Clayton Oliver, Christian Petracca, the club's culture and the exits of CEO Gary Pert and president Kate Roffey, the job seemed farfetched for an organisation that was spiralling.
Shand, who helped build the renowned culture of New Zealand's famed national rugby union team, insisted that the perception of the Demons was all wrong.
SEE MORE: The findings from Melbourne's external review
"My perspective of looking at the Dees was the world was saying they were falling apart. It was basically one plus one equals three," Shand said on SEN.
"That wasn't my experience at all. There was a couple of separate issues, but very solvable.
"The world just said, 'The club is falling apart'. Yeah, the results weren't great, but I still felt inside their environment, a lot of the systems and structures were really good, a lot of the people are really good, the ambition was good.
"Once we set up that environment to think about what's next and have a whole lot of players involved as well, it was awesome to watch it unfold."
Shand's time and subsequent work at the All Blacks from 2004 to 2023 proved to be the driving force that snapped the organisation into immortality, winning two Rugby World Cups and 16 Tri-Series championships in that period.
The leadership guru spoke of the importance of leaning on leaders of the club to drive and set the standards, referencing how Kiwi legends Richie McCaw and Dan Carter did.
"If I reflect on the All Black time, culture is something you've got to see, you've got to feel, and you've got to be able to hear," Shand said.
"It's not what's up on the walls; it's what you see in an environment and how you feel things, and what it's like every day. That defined that period I had there (with the All Blacks).
"It was a very honest place; the leadership was shared, it wasn't a coach-driven environment.
"The way they (leaders) were inside the environment, how they turned up, how they behaved, who they were every day."
The Demons were in desperate need of a shake-up following the 2024 season after multiple incidents that drew negative attention.
The external review found the need to change processes, demanding a need to "refine our method of play" and the importance of "empowering playing leadership".
Clayton v Christian @aflratings pic.twitter.com/CF6LgAVqJ3
— aflratings.com.au (@aflratings) December 2, 2024
All hands are now back on deck for Melbourne as they look to prepare for the upcoming season.
The club has welcomed back legend Nathan Jones as an assistant coach, along with former Adelaide Nathan Bassett to the fold, replacing the departing Andrew McQualter and Greg Stafford.
Former Brisbane speedster Harry Sharp has impressed immediately, claiming the 2km time trial while Melbourne's relatively clean bill of health should steer them toward a productive summer.
