MIDFIELD coach Ben Mathews says the entire engine room must step up, given the absence of Daniel Cross (broken leg) and Jordie McKenzie (suspension) for this Sunday’s clash against the Western Bulldogs at Etihad Stadium.
Mathews said the incumbent midfield, plus some inclusions, needed to make a stand this weekend,
“By his own admission, Nathan [Jones] wasn’t as productive last week. Dom Tyson and Jack Viney, two of our younger mids that have been really consistent, have just dropped off a fraction in the last couple of weeks. So we need to reinvigorate those guys and get them back to the levels they were playing a month ago,” he told Dee TV.
“We don’t think it’s far away and they’re working hard on the track and the gym. We’ve had some good reviews and we felt we let ourselves down against North on the weekend.
“While North was better than us in a lot of areas, we felt our effort wasn’t quite there on the weekend and we didn’t give ourselves the best chance.”
Mathews said Cross and McKenzie’s forced omission from the side was a tough blow.
“Crossy has been fantastic since crossing over from the Dogs and whatever role we ask him to play, he’s just gone out there with such professionalism and done the job,” he said.
“Jordie’s come back in, in the last fortnight and played his role. He played on [Brent] Stanton against the Bombers and shut him out of the game. We switched him around on the weekend and he started on [Sam] Gibson and went to [Nick] Dal Santo in the second half. We felt he did a good job.
“Losing those two guys is disappointing, but we move on and we bring new players into the mix and we’re really confident that they’re going to play their role – that’s all they have to do – and we’re confident they’ll do it.”
Mathews said potential debutant Dom Barry, big man Max Gawn and runner Daniel Nicholson were also making a strong case for inclusion this round. The final 22 will be named on Friday evening.
“He’s (Barry) an outside mid/half-forward. He’s played some run-with roles in the last three or four weeks at VFL level and done really well – [we’re] just teaching him the defensive aspect of the game.”
“Dom’s certainly in the mix and Maxy Gawn is in the mix again. His height and help for the big ‘Russian’ Mark Jamar is invaluable, so we’re toying with the idea of adding a second ruck/forward.
“Dan Nicholson has been really, really consistent at VFL level. He’s earned the extended bench spot probably 10 out of the last 14 weeks – he’s been right in the mix. He’s certainly one we could throw into that run-with role that we’ll miss with Jordie and Crossy this week.”
Mathews said the Demons had learned plenty from the last time they met the Dogs in round eight, when Melbourne fell short by 16 points at the MCG.
“We felt we matched the Dogs in a lot of areas. They’re a great contested side and they’re building their brand under Brendan McCartney,” he said.
“Unfortunately for them, they’ve lost a bit of speed and outside run with [Adam] Cooney and [Ryan] Griffen out as well. They’ve still got a lot of good insiders – [Tom] Liberatore is having a great season and [Mitch] Wallis has come back into the side.
“They’ve added young [Marcus] Bontempelli, who is really showing good signs through the midfield. It’s going to be no different to a lot of sides – we’re going to have to match them inside and really work hard on the outside and get clean ball into our forward line.”
