GAWN FIT TO TORMENT EAGLES
CELLAR dweller West Coast won’t be spared the full force of premiers Melbourne on Sunday, with captain Max Gawn a certain starter after shaking off any concerns over a knee issue.
Demons coach Simon Goodwin confirmed on Thursday morning that Gawn was “firing on all cylinders” and would make the trip to Perth with the best possible Melbourne team as they return to Optus Stadium for the first time since last year’s epic grand final win.
Despite taking on the lastplaced Eagles, Goodwin said his team was “not in the phase of resting players” and would continue to put their foot down every weekend to work towards their best football.
“If there’s any player that has got an injury we won’t play them. But that’s not the case and we are not in the phase of resting players,” Goodwin said.
“We want to build our cohesion and connection with our footy team, we want to play our best players and Max is a big part of that. We want to head to Perth with our best team possible.”
Melbourne is unbeaten through the opening eight rounds and Goodwin said there might come a time to manage his list to ensure they are at their optimum for and during the finals. But, he said, that time is not now.
“It’s round 9, there is so much footy ahead of us in the season,” he said.
“There will be opportunities in time to look at our situation and look at our injury list, but there is so much improvement in our footy team we need to get better at and cohesion that we need to build in our side. That’s not something we are not even considering.”
Melbourne is $1.01 to beat the battling Eagles and move to 9-0.
Goodwin also said he hoped premiership star Angus Brayshaw “didn’t think too long” about his next contract, having declared on Wednesday that he was in no rush to sign a new deal.
“He’s a pretty important player to us and someone we love dearly,” he said.