DEMON veteran Christian Salem made his long-awaited VFL return from a foot fracture and made his mark in a new position on the ground.

VFL Senior Coach Rhett McLennan reviewed the AFL-listed Demon performances in VFL Round 17 against Coburg for Melbourne Media.

Christian Salem (Two quarters, nine disposals, one goal)

“Salo played as a high forward this week, which is something obviously that's not usual for him. He did a fantastic job in his first half that he played. He was really quick off the mark, reacted to the contest quite well, showed really good pressure.

“He made some good decisions coming from a different side of the ground that he's not used to and finished with one goal. He should have finished with three, but a really promising performance for first up after a long term injury."

Lukas Cooke (23 disposals, 13 kicks, three marks)

“Coming back after an injury, he looked really solid after having the best part of the month off. He showed a lot of poise with the football. Lukas reads the ball from a long way away really well.

“He impacted a lot of contests off the back of a lot of inside 50s for Coburg and probably only got beaten in a couple of contests for the day, so all augurs well for someone who's going to be knocking on the door in the very near future of AFL.”

Riley Onley (21 disposals, one goal, seven tackles)

“It was the second week in a row where Riley played through the middle and played his best game of the year. I thought his contest and his physicality was really strong, even all the way to the end of the game.

“He finished with a goal and probably could have finished with a couple more. Needs to back himself in a little bit more, and I think he can get to the stage where he can really start dominating games of VFL footy if he does so.”

Ricky Mentha (20 disposals, five marks, four tackles)

“Ricky’s form’s been sensational - another really good game from Ricky. He played a little bit higher this week, so played more on the wing than anywhere else.

“Had some really good offensive moments, but his improvement has really been based off how well his tackling has evolved. He had some really good tackles, got rewarded for them and used the footy well. So I’m really happy with the way Ricky's progressing.”

Xavier Taylor (18 dispoals, four marks)

“It was an interesting, different game for Xav because he played a little bit higher given we had so many talls deep, so he had to play sort of as a high back flank. He got involved around the scrimmages a little bit more.

“He showed really good determination when his nose was over the football. Running backwards as the ball gets lost is probably something he just needs to keep working on locating his man a little bit better, but he got involved on offense well this week again, which has been an improvement over the last few weeks.”

Jack Henderson (17 disposals, one goal, eight tackles)

“Hendo probably had a quieter game. He's been super consistent this year in the VFL, but unfortunately probably got his colours lowered by some of the Coburg midfield. He was just a little bit slow and off the pace.

“He went forward in the last quarter and had some good moments. We know his flexibility and what he can do so I'm expecting a bounce back next week.”

Oscar Berry (17 disposals, four marks, two tackles)

“Oscar got involved in the play a lot. There was a lot of football driven through his man. He had some really good moments and showed from an offensive point of view, especially when he comes at the football there’s been some real progression from the start of the year to now.

“There's probably just elements where there's some errors as he goes back or sideways towards the contest that he just needs to keep working on. But it's been a really good learning experience for the last three weeks, playing against standalone teams and bigger bodies for Oscar.”

Max Mapley (15 disposals, one goal, 16 hit-outs)

“Max's game was very similar to last week. When he starts the game he's really impressive in his technique in ruck and also when he goes forward, has been taking some really nice marks, especially early.

“When fatigue kicks in he's a little bit like the VFL team in general - he starts to sort of get thrown around a little bit and goes off script a little bit. We'll just work on that.

“It's probably a pretty thankless task coming in, especially as a young tall to go become a full time AFL footballer off the back of no pre-season, but the green shoots are really impressive and promising for Max.”

Luker Kentfield (13 disposals, 2 goals, four marks, eight tackles)

“Luker probably had four shots on goal for two majors, so had opportunities to probably put a bigger stamp on the game than he did. The games that he's played, especially against the standalone clubs, are difficult because they've been on windy days and it's been difficult for Luker to sort of get a feel for where the ball drop is in his contested situation.

“He probably needs to get on his bike a little bit more and trust his body and his conditioning and where he's at to run his opponents into the ground a little bit more as well as just playing the contested aerial game.”

Paddy Cross (13 disposals, one goal, four marks, four tackles)

“You never knock his work ethic and his ability to run hard and try hard. That was definitely much the case on the weekend and he started well. Had some good moments around the footy and deep. He finished with one goal.

“As the game went on, unfortunately a little bit like the side, he was quiet. We just need to find ways to maximise where he's running to and how we can get the footy to Paddy more often.”

Jed Adams (11 disposals, eight marks)

“Jed came back from injury and given it was his first game back had a pretty impressive game. He used his weapon really well, which is his intercept marking. He took a couple of really nice, timely intercept marks.

“There were occasions where some of his decisions led to opposition goals. He's just got to get better in that space. His determination to fight to the death and run back hard and make a contest on the last line were pretty good. Overall, you give it a tick for his first game back.”

Tom Matthews (Nine disposals, two goals, five tackles)

“Tommy was coming back after a month off as well and seeing if there's a little bit of zip back in his legs - he definitely showed that. He tackled really well and kicked a couple of goals. He could have kicked three.

“He probably just needs to work on being clean below his knees a little bit better, but that's probably to be expected if you're having your first game back after a month. Hopefully that comes along with the speed that he showed in this game. He could have a really big impact on some games coming towards the end of the season.

Tom McDonald (Two quarters, nine disposals, three marks)

“TMac played a half of footy as the carryover emergency. We know what we're going to get from TMac, which is a poised footballer playing behind the footy and actually affecting a lot of contests and that's what he did.

“Conditions probably didn't lend themselves to be as clean as he would have liked, but he still played the percentages well and helped us repel and put us in a really good, positive position at half time.”

Kalani White (Six disposals, three tackles)

“Kalani is probably battling a little bit at the moment in consistency, so he's having good moments throughout the game, but unfortunately in between those moments he's not having a lot of impact.

“We're working hard on him to be more physical in the marking contest and pushing him to be more strong defensively and have a bit more energy in that space. But there's no doubt that when he jumps for the football, when he's in the right position, he's very, very hard to beat.”