DEMONS’ RISK & REWARD

‘Full on’ match after week off

MELBOURNE will risk a heartbreaking injury before the grand final by going “full on” in a bye-weekend practice match.

The Demons are wary of being underdone when they head into the September 25 premiership decider having played just one game in three weeks.

Defender Christian Salem admitted the Demons would be treading a fine line to ensure they were physically hardened when they tackled the Western Bulldogs at Perth Stadium.

“There is a fine balance,” Salem said on Wednesday.

“We are going to go pretty hard but it is more (a matter of) don’t jump into people’s backs going in for marks and (avoid) sling tackles and whatnot.

“But when we are playing we are going full-on.

“The high-performance team has numbers that we need to hit (for running) and also the contested ball aspect to it in terms of hitting bodies and trying to feel like it is a bit of a game.”

After their 33-point qualifying final win against the

Brisbane Lions, the Demons earned a week off before ending Geelong’s campaign in an 83-point demolition.

But they now have to navigate the first pre-grand final bye – a position that could put them at a disadvantage against the match-hardened Bulldogs, who have come from sudden-death playoffs against Essendon, Brisbane and Port Adelaide.

Salem said the Demons would take heart from their week-off preparation leading into the Geelong game.

“The high-performance team and the coaches have done a good job in planning that and making sure we were ready for Geelong,” Salem said.

“We take a lot of confidence from that.

“We will just try and repeat the same week and a bit just to allow us to get conditioned and match-hardened, and we should be fine.”

After missing out on the finals last year when they finished ninth, the Demons turned their fortunes around with “buy-in” from everyone at the club, Salem said.

“We were pretty disappointed with how the season finished last year. It was sort of in our hands … and we blew that opportunity,” he said.

“We went away over the summer and worked on our game hard.

“To be honest, it was just a total buy-in in every single phase of our game plan, onfield, off-field, coaching staff, players.

“It translated back to training in the pre-season and when games started we put it into action.

“But at the same time the job is not done yet. We still have a game to play and a game to win.”

Salem, who started at the Demons the same year as former coach Paul Roos, said there were some “dark times” for the club but he never doubted the team.

“I knew we were completely capable of this,” Salem said.

“It was just believing in it. That was one of the main things as well, just having that belief in knowing we are good enough and producing it on a consistent basis.”