Demons say no to Cousins

Melbourne has ruled out the possibility of securing the services of former West Coast captain Ben Cousins just two days after Fremantle declared its interest in the fallen Eagle.

Demons coach Dean Bailey believes playing football shouldn't be at the top of Cousins' priority list at this stage in his life.

"I think the greatest thing that Ben can do is get his rehabilitation right, get his life back on track, but no, we won't be interested in Ben," Bailey said.

Cousins is currently in Malibu, California, as he continues to receive treatment for his well-documented drug addiction.

However, Bailey did confirm Melbourne's interest in Cousins' former team-mate Ashley Sampi after he was delisted by the Eagles on Tuesday.

"We'll sit down with (recruiting and list manager) Craig (Cameron) and go through the list of players that may or may not be available, so his name will be on the list to discuss," said Bailey.

Bailey has just returned from a development program in China which involved nine of the club's younger players and the Demons coach admits his young charges made an impact on him.

"Really impressed with their character, they seem to be very driven as well. (In) the time that I spent with them, (Ricky) Petterd and (Brock) McLean really impressed me," said Bailey.

"In fact most of the nine blokes are really keen to get on with the first day of pre-season, get on with building a career for themselves."

Bailey doesn't believe his side is in a rebuilding phase and the rookie coach thinks Melbourne can change its fortunes around quickly in 2008 after winning just five games this year.

"If you look at the teams that played in the preliminary (finals), 10, 12 and 14 is where they finished last year and three of them played in the preliminary finals.

"There's a message there that everything's possible, the advantage that those three clubs had is that they started pre-season training now (this time last year), we've got to see that as an advantage."