MELBOURNE coach Paul Roos is comfortable withwhere James Frawley's contract situation sits – for now. 

Frawley, an restricted free agent this year, isyet to make a decision on whether to commit to the club long-term and hiscontract status continues to be a major talking point at Melbourne.

The 25-year-old delayed talks with the Demons atthe start of this year, as he sought to establish the direction in which theclub is heading under Roos.

Amid criticism of Frawley from Melbourne legendGarry Lyon on Channel 9's Footy Classified on Monday night, Roos said the clubwas awaiting the key defender's decision.

"We're respectful that he's going to takehis time to make a decision because that's the way free agency works,"Roos said at AAMI Park on Tuesday afternoon.

"You need to know at some point. That pointhasn't arisen yet, but at some point you do."

An All Australian defender in 2010, Frawley hasspent the bulk of his time as a forward this season to help fill the void leftby the absences of Mitch Clark, Jesse Hogan and, to a certain extent, ChrisDawes.

Roos said Frawley was an essential part of theDemons' aspirations to take the club towards finals in the future.

"James at his best is an All Australiandefender and he's certainly been a really consistent player for this footyclub," Roos said.

"We hope to keep him, we hope hestays."

If Frawley does depart, the Demons would haveadditional salary cap room to chase a big name free agent.

Roos has been on record saying Melbourne needsto add a couple of classy midfielders and the Demons coach said the club wouldexplore all of its options at the end of this season.

"It's an enormous opportunity for eachclub. Free agency is a free hit," Roos said.

"I think clubs will gear up more and moreto get free agents, depending on needs and it'll be interesting to see where weend up as an industry.

"For us, we're like everyone - you're goingto scour the free agents on a yearly basis. You're going to contact managers,because that's just the way it is.

"Like everyone, if we identify a playerthat can help us then you're going to have a crack at them because that's theway the industry will work now."