COACH Paul Roos says it was a risk playing two ruckmen – Max Gawn and Jake Spencer – in the same side against Geelong at Simonds Stadium on Sunday, but he couldn’t have been happier with the tall timber duo’s effort.

Gawn played his finest AFL match and pushed for best-on-ground honours after his stellar effort in the ruck with 44 hit outs, 19 disposals (including 15 contested possessions), eight marks (including six contested). Spencer also had 25 hit outs and chipped in with a goal, after taking an outstanding contested mark.

Roos said the scenario that saw Gawn and Spencer play together – the first time Melbourne has played two recognised ruckmen in the same team this year – would be monitored on a match by match basis.

“It’s a risk [playing two key ruckmen] because not many teams do it now with the sub [rule], so it is hard – it’s risk versus reward for it – there’s no doubt about it,” he said.

“We tried to keep even numbers forward of the ball. Our bigs did compete and they competed really hard. Dawesy (Chris Dawes) was terrific and Howey (Jeremy Howe) was terrific, so our bigs’ ability to bring the ball to ground was significant.

“It’s probably horses for courses a little bit, but it certainly worked really well today.”

Roos said Gawn’s match was outstanding.  

“He was fantastic and I thought our bigs were really, really significant – both around the contest and at the fall of the ball,” he said.

“With Hoges (Jesse Hogan) coming out, we had to do something a bit different today.

“I just felt that they were really important.”

Roos said the performance of Jeremy Howe was also crucial.

“Our forwards ability to make a contest – Jeremy Howe typified how we played. He didn’t have a possession at half-time, but he was one of our most important players in the first half, because he kept bringing the ball to ground,” he said.

“He got some real reward after half-time and that probably typified the group – they came to play today and they came and played for the team, not just for themselves.

“Hopefully that’s the next step for us – we start thinking about our team, rather than individually.”