JAKE Spencer says he’d love to form a ruck partnership with Max Gawn this year, but understands that he may have to play deputy the 2016 All-Australian.

Spencer, who played with Gawn in Melbourne’s opening JLT Community Series win against the Western Bulldogs last Saturday, said Gawn was a big advocate of playing two ruckmen.

“Last year, he’d always try to plead my case in leadership group meetings and things like that,” he told melbournefc.com.au.  

“We’ve played a lot together at Casey and a couple of times we’ve shown it can work at AFL level. It’s just about me providing that consistency in the ruck and up forward, but we always joke together that they should play two ruckmen.

“Gawny is just as capable as playing forward as he is in the ruck, so you never know, we could both play in the side early in the year. You spend a lot of time together and he’s a very likeable guy Gawny – I’m fortunate to have been able to play with him for a few years.”

Spencer said he had to ensure he was ready if he ever got an opportunity.

“If you’re not getting a game, you’ve got to keep banging the door down at Casey,” he said.

“If your opportunity does come, then you can slot right in, even if they will be pretty big shoes to fill in, if Gawny’s not playing. I’ve got to be ready to go when the time comes.

“It’s just our position. The way the game is played now, generally you only play one ruckman, but who knows with the new ruck rule, coaches may want to play two.” 

Spencer said his pre-season had given him a great opportunity to impress his wares in 2017.

“It’s great to get through the summer and I feel as though I’m in as good a shape as I’ve been all year,” he said.

“My last couple of pre-seasons have been interrupted, so this year has been good and it’s really helped my confidence.

“I’ve trained hard enough to give myself an opportunity to play in the pre-season and hopefully both Gawny and I can play, because it has worked sometimes in the past.”