Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin is “monitoring” the ongoing fitness of star captain Max Gawn as he shoulders the ruck load one-out but has no intention to rest him, with Brodie Grundy set to spend another week out of the team.
Gawn has been at his All-Australian best in the past three weeks, all Melbourne wins, after Goodwin opted to recalibrate the partnership between the skipper and Grundy, who was sent to the VFL to work on his forward craft.
That will be difficult for Grundy this week, as the Demons’ VFL team has a bye, and even though Melbourne is playing cellar-dwellers North Melbourne on Sunday, Gawn won’t be rested to accommodate his fellow big man’s return.
Goodwin said an early-season injury break for Gawn, who missed three weeks with a knee injury, has ensured the captain was still firing despite shouldering such a massive load.
“We certainly won’t push Max too hard, but he has only played 16 games. He missed some games early in the season and we have monitored his load all year,” Goodwin said on Thursday.
“We feel like he’s really fresh at the moment and we want to keep him in that space. He’s in amazing form.
“At this stage, he’s very bubbly and excited about what’s to come. He’s fresh and he’s ready to go.”
Goodwin also said the combination of tall forwards Harrison Petty and Jacob van Rooyen, who kicked 10 goals between them in last week’s win over Richmond, was the “dynamic” look the Demons were going for, another barrier to Grundy’s return.
“He (Grundy) knows there might be an opportunity that comes his way, but we’re not going to force it,” Goodwin said.
“We are liking how Brodie is progressing, but we’ll continue to do what’s best for the team, however best we function, and Brodie is still a part of that. We’ll keep assessing it week by week,” he said.
“I can’t predict what’s going to happen in the future. We’ve just got to be prepared to have what our best forward line looks like over the next few weeks and what it might look like if something happens.
“We’ll look to stabilise a little bit down there (the forward line) in the next few weeks. The way Harrison played last week was outstanding and the combination of Jacob and Harrison looked quite dynamic ahead of the ball.”
Midfield star Clayton Oliver is a near certainty to return in round 22 against Carlton, having not played since round 10 with a troublesome hamstring injury, aiding the Demons’ cause to lock in a top-four spot.
“We think that everything being right, he’ll be good to go next week,” Goodwin said.
“We feel like we are in a good position to press forward, but that just doesn’t just happen, you have to work for it and bring purpose to every day you have.”