Demon Forward’s Russell Robertson has been omitted from the team. Melbourne Coach Dean Bailey said that Robertson’s omission was a result of a drop in form and that he would have the opportunity to regain his spot through the VFL.

“As a club, we need to continually raise the expectations and standards of on field performance. In Russell’s case there are parts of his game he needs to work on and he will have the opportunity to work on these,  playing for the Casey Scorpions in the VFL this weekend.”

Bailey said the decision to omit Robertson was not a result of Robertson’s goal-line mishap against Hawthorn but because of the pressure coming from underneath following strong player performances in the VFL.

“It is important that there is great pressure for spots in our 22 on any given weekend. On this occasion Russell has been left out but on the other hand there are two players in Mark Jamar and Daniel Bell who have worked hard and taken their opportunity to represent this Club at the senior level. ”

“You don’t drop a player for one mistake, players make mistakes in every game. We just need Russell to go back the VFL and recapture the form we know he is capable of producing.”

In other changes, young forward Ricky Petterd has also been omitted from the team.
Melbourne will fly to the Gold Coast and Friday morning and train on Cararra Stadium at that afternoon. The last time these two teams met was in Round Ten of last year, with St Kilda 19.15.129 defeating Melbourne 7.8.50 in front of 27,854 spectators at Docklands.

Melbourne Team
Backs: M.Whelan, M.Warnock, J.RiversH
Half backs: J.Frawley, S. Martin, A.Davey
Centreline: J.Grimes, C. Morton, B.McLean
Half forwards: C.Sylvia, B.Miller, D.Bell
Forwards: B.Green, M.Bate, C.Bruce
Followers: M.Jamar, B.Moloney, J.McDonald
I/C : P.Johnson, A.Maric, N.Jones, J.Bennell
EMG: K.Cheney, L.Dunn, R.Petterd

Team Changes
In: Jamar, Bell
Out: Petterd, Robertson