KEY forward Chris Dawes says the form All-Australian James Frawley showed in attack against Carlton could result in the regular defender becoming a key part of Melbourne’s forward line.
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Dawes heaped praise on Frawley and versatile tall Lynden Dunn as part of a revamped and new-look Melbourne forward line, following Melbourne’s first win for the season over Carlton at the MCG on Saturday.
“I was saying to [backline coach] Jade Rawlings that he might not get ‘Chipper’ back now, if he’s going to keep this form up,” he said.
“What that tells me is that after the West Coast game – when we were well beaten – Roosy’s not afraid to shuffle things around and give guys an opportunity to play different roles.
“If they’re going to keep playing their role – even if it’s unnatural to them – then we can do that. If guys can have several strings to their bows, then it’s a plus for us and it gives us that versatility, if things aren’t working.”
Dawes, who returned from injury against the Blues – after just one intra-club match in February this year – said he was “knackered” from the start of the match.
“I think that just goes to show that match conditioning is pretty handy if you can get it,” he said.
“As far as the game went, it was pretty uncomfortable for 120 minutes, which is how wins should be. You should just have to bust a gut.
“One of the most pleasing things with the win was that they (Carlton) got the jump on us early and got those three goals up. Rather than pack it in, we worked to wrestle momentum back from them and then we stuck to our task, and we kept increasing our pressure and ended up running over the top of them.”
Although Dawes said he was cramping and battling to run out the game in the final term, he found another level to help his side to victory.
“What made me able to stay out there and play my role still was the support we had around us,” he said.
“I don’t think we can underestimate the efforts of guys like James Frawley and Lynden Dunn – they’re part-timers [in attack] and they’ve come into the forward line and actually given us a really good look.
“Chipper in particular was super. To have 25 touches from centre half-forward can’t be underestimated and it meant that I could play deeper and turn up to contests – with those guys (Frawley and Dunn) winning a lot of ball that was coming out of the back half.”
Dawes said the fact he added structure to the line-up was the reason why he came straight back into the AFL – rather than through the VFL.
“The thinking behind bringing me back in underdone – in terms of match fitness and touch – was that what I do bring to the team is structure,” he said.
“It gives us a reference point and I’ve played enough footy that even though my touch wasn’t there – and I’m not in great form – that doesn’t affect me too much.
“I understand my role within the team and I still play that without having much of an impact on the game.”
Dawes said he would be eased through the week for Melbourne’s round five clash against the Gold Coast Suns at the MCG.
“I think I’ll have a much lighter week on the track – than I’ve had the last few weeks, which was always the plan going in,” he said.
“We’ve got an eight-day break and the body – aside from being knackered when I was out there – is feeling really well. I can’t see why I won’t improve on my running power next week.”
Overall, Dawes said the win was “massive” for the confidence of the players.
“What’s important … is that it gets a lot better than this,” he said.
“One win, especially when you’re zero [wins] and three [losses] is huge. But it gets a lot better than this – and that’s what we’ve got to expect from ourselves – to win footy games regularly.”
