BACKLINE coach Jade Rawlings has praised Jeremy Howe’s effort to embrace his new role down back.

Howe, who is known as a high-flying forward/midfielder, has played in defence for the past two matches and impressed with his run and work from half-back. Rawlings said Howe had done everything asked of him so far.

“It’s really difficult when there is no history to training down back, but to Jeremy’s credit, he’s really invested in our group and he’s been a very good listener,” he told Dee TV.

“Every time he’s been out on the ground and he’s been a little bit unsure, the players have been really strong on what they’ve wanted from him and he’s reacted accordingly.

“I’ve actually got a really good relationship with his father and he’s been telling me for two years that Jeremy would be a good half-back, which I’d strongly disagreed with. But his last two games have shown that he’s got a really good aptitude for a backline player and I’ve been pleased with what he’s done so far.”

On the flipside, Rawlings said he wasn’t surprised James Frawley, who has impressed up forward in the past two weeks, particularly in Melbourne’s opening win of the season against Carlton last round, had been pivotal up forward. 

“I’m not shocked that he played well up there in the last two weeks, but to be able to have 14 marks and 24 possessions and maybe the match winner was probably above the expectations,” he said.

“The two most powerful players I’ve worked with as a coach are [Lion] Daniel Merrett and James Frawley. Both have shown when they go forward that because of their speed and power, they can get separation.

“His hands have been good and his follow-up work has been good as well, so it’s been a real win so far.”

Rawlings said it remains to be seen if Frawley and Lynden Dunn, who has also been a key focal point in attack in the past two rounds, will return down back.

“It’s so hard to forecast in the future. I would say that one of the two will definitely be coming back pretty soon, especially with the impending debut of [Jesse] Hogan at some stage,” he said.

“For the balance of the team, it could be best to keep both forward, so whilst we can hold up down back, maybe it’s best to keep them forward.

“Decisions as a coaching group will determine that over the next game or two.”

Rawlings said he guarded his defensive group closely, but he understood why the changes were made.

“I’m very protective of the group and I’ve become very close over the past three seasons,” he said.

“But after the way we started and what we lacked ahead of the ball, we needed to change what it looked like, in both the personnel and structure of the team.

“You lose one, but you gain one and we got [Jeremy] Howe, who has really invested in the group and had a good couple of weeks. Dunn and Frawley have played roles at the other end of the ground, but it’s given [Alex] Georgiou more exposure and it’s required [Tom] McDonald to become more of a leader and more of a senior player.

“When you lose one thing, you can gain others and that’s the way we’ve looked at it. It’s balanced our team out well in the last two weeks.”

Rawlings added that he didn’t get involved in Frawley’s contract situation, which has become a key talking point in the football fraternity.

“It’s all external and it’s not my role to interfere in contract talks. If I ever felt like it was a distraction for a player, then it’d be the time when you’d intervene,” he said.

“As long as it’s about his preparation and he’s able to compete and perform on game day – that’s all external pressure.

“[Through] the naked eye and knowing him as well as I do, he seems to be handling it fine. A lot of it’s a beat-up, but most importantly, he’s performing for us and that’s what we want to judge him on.”

Rawlings was also optimistic that one of his charges – Colin Garland – was not too far away from returning to the AFL, after he played in the AFL Development League with Casey last round.

“His rehabilitation has been quite extensive to make sure that the pretty severe ankle injury that he had was absolutely ready to go and cherry ripe,” he said.

“So the step forward from a playing perspective – he approached that level of footy really well and performed as you’d hope and expect.

“The next few steps is playing VFL seniors and let’s hope by rounds seven, eight or nine, he’s about to play senior footy and will stay in for the rest of the year.”

As for Sunday’s clash against the Gold Coast Suns at the MCG, Rawlings said the club hadn’t spoken about achieving back to back wins this round – instead it was all about effort.

“We haven’t spoken about winning – it’s just more of an extension of last Saturday, which I think most Melbourne people and the footy public would see that it was effort and a consistent effort for four quarters,” he said.

“Let’s hope that we bring the same attitude and effort and let’s see where it takes us.”