Demons’ big call on stars’ return
ONLY either Sam Weideman or Ben Brown will return for Melbourne against Richmond on Saturday night as coach Simon Goodwin remains conscious of maintaining the “chemistry” among his unbeaten team.
Defender Steven May could also make a shock return just two weeks after suffering a horrific eye injury against Geelong in Round 4.
May needs only to pass final concussion protocols and get through training and could be back to take on Tiger talls Tom Lynch and Jack Riewoldt on Anzac Day eve.
Weideman’s seven goals in the VFL last week could put his nose in front of star recruit Brown for a comeback this week with both now having played two matches in their returns from pre-season injuries.
At training on Wednesday, Weideman lined up in the preferred “A” team while in 18versus-18 match simulation at training at Casey Field Brown played in the “B” team.
But Goodwin said the Demons would continually look at the right “formula” for his side, which is looking to make its best start to a season since 1965.
“We’re certainly not going to bring them both back at once. I’ll give you that answer for sure,” he said.
“The team is functioning well and we need to be really careful we don’t adjust too much and we keep that chemistry going and keep the balance really strong.
“They both hit the scoreboard the week before in the game time they had. You look at both their match reports and the vision and they both rated really highly.
“For one of those guys it’s going to be a bit longer (in the VFL). This week’s one week, but it can change very quickly for us as well.”
The potential availability of goalkicker Bailey Fritsch, who missed last week with a broken hand, could also weigh heavily on who Goodwin picks to play forward this week.
“We’re in a really fortunate position; it’s a challenging one for us as a coaching group to work out what is our best formula going forward,” he said.
“We’ll continue to look at: Is our method right? Can our personnel make it better? They are the sorts of things we are weighing up.
“The team that plays this weekend won’t be the team that plays in Round 10, it won’t be the same in Round 15, we’ll continue to adjust and adapt and find the best way.”
May, who suffered eye socket damage in Round 4, has been given approval from his surgeon to play.
The Demons haven’t beaten Richmond since 2016 and will need to stop rampaging Dustin Martin to turn that around. Goodwin said he would have “multiple plans” to tackle the Tigers star.
“He takes up a fair bit of time as a coach to plan what’s best for Dusty,” he said.
“We’ll have multiple plans in different areas of the ground.”