Dees’ plan for big Max

MELBOURNE coach Simon Goodwin has lauded Christian Petracca and intends to push ahead with a ruck tandem after finding some support for his hardworking champion Max Gawn.

The pressure on the previously winless Demons eased after they rallied from a 22point second quarter deficit to beat Sydney by that same margin at the SCG on Thursday.

A strong contested ball performance in the second half, a massive 73-13 hitout advantage and much improved defensive effort were the keys.

Like several of his teammates the 23-year-old Petracca made a subdued start to the season.

But the undeniably talented forward-midfielder underlined his value by kicking a couple of high quality goals at the SCG.

“Since round two he certainly got scrutinised a lot,” Goodwin said.

“He’s been sensational the last two weeks and he’s getting reward for his effort now.

“He’s winning a lot of oneon-one contests, he’s working really hard. He’s developed a few techniques to get off his man and I’m really liking his game at the moment.”

Gawn won 55 hit-outs and Demons debutant Braydon Preuss won 13, with the former Kangaroos big man also kicking two first-quarter goals playing as a forward.

“He just enabled us to keep the heat on around the ball for a little bit longer and support Gawny,” Goodwin said.

“Gawny has done a power of work for us for over a year now with not a lot of support so it was great to see Braydon come in play his role incredibly well and gave us a great target.”

Asked if he intended continuing with a Gawn-Preuss ruck tandem, Goodwin said: “I wouldn’t see why we wouldn’t right now, it worked for us, so I’d be assuming that would be the way forward.”

Goodwin regarded the team’s performance as a step forward rather than a return to their stellar form near the end of last season.