Melbourne’s match committee has a big decision to make between two senior players to replace injured forward Harrison Petty.
AFL: Melbourne proved too strong for Hawthorn after a building a big first half lead at the MCG.
Star midfielder Christian Petracca trained fully on Tuesday and will be fit to face the Power in the top-four clash, but the Demons need to replace Harrison Petty, who will miss four to six weeks after spraining a ligament in his mid-foot.
Petty’s injury opens the door for one of Melbourne’s out-of-favour veterans, with Brown (three games, nine goals) and McDonald (four games, five goals) both battling injury and form concerns in the opening months of the season.
Casey Demons had a bye in the VFL last weekend, but Goodwin said he had no issue selecting one of the pair or the smaller Jake Melksham, given they would be fresh heading into the Port Adelaide clash.
Harrison Petty looked on in a moon boot at Melbourne training on Tuesday. Picture: Quinn Rooney / Getty Images
“We’ve got a bank of evidence in the last month about how guys are tracking; there’s certainly some form, even though there was no game last week,” Goodwin said.
“Certainly if a player comes in they will be fresh.
“He’s a really important player for us, Harrison. He’s going to be out for four to six weeks with a mid-foot sprain, which we’re going to be cautious with … it presents opportunity for another forward to come in and play well.”
Goodwin said Petracca was fine to play off the six-day break despite the scare late in the win over Hawthorn when he rolled his ankle.
“Obviously it’s a concern when you’ve got one of your players limping off at the end of the game,” he said.
Christian Petracca hit the track with the main group at Casey Fields on Tuesday. Picture: Quinn Rooney / Getty Images
“Normally on these short weeks, if there’s a player of concern, you’ll wait until later in the week, but he’s ready to go.”
Rebounding defender Christian Salem was ready to play at either level this week after a month of full training, Goodwin said.
He said the Port Adelaide battle would help shape the Demons’ plans as they try to gear their season towards the back end of the year, with more positional changes and ball movement tweaks on the agenda.
“These are the type of games you look forward to; you’re playing an in-form team who have won six on the trot and going into their hostile environment, their home ground,” Goodwin said.
“There’s no doubt that when you’re playing a team like Port Adelaide on their home ground, you’re going to get an audit into where you sit.
“We certainly feel like we’re ready for that audit and it will give us some great information about where we are in our season, what we need to work on and how we get better.”