PRACTICE matches look a little different in 2020.

On Friday afternoon, the Melbourne players who weren’t selected for Round 8 combined with Richmond and Essendon to take on Carlton in a hit-out at South Pine Sports Complex.

The mixed team was coached by Alan Richardson, and he was pleased with how the game unfolded.

“We had nine players, so it was Melbourne jumpers – we called ourselves the Melbourne Allies,” Richardson told Melbourne Media.

“To play with blokes from other club’s was strange, but they did a really good job – all players, not just the Melbourne boys.

“It was a really good contest – we got out of it exactly what we wanted.

“We were able to play our way with 16 v 16, so that was brilliant.”

The match was broken up into 20-minute thirds, allowing the four sides to take some positives from the session.

And for Richardson, the nine Demons who took the field all took big steps forward in their bid for senior selection.

“All of our blokes had their moments and had the opportunity to execute their roles,” he said.

“We had a predominantly Melbourne front-half with Tommy McDonald, Mitch Brown, Jayden Hunt, Charlie Spargo and Alex Neal-Bullen.

“Tommy McDonald kicked four goals. He marked the ball well, led well and worked really hard up and down the ground.

“Spargo was quite impressive too, with his fall of the ball work and his ability to get back and help the mids in defence.”

At times, Brown was used as a swingman to chop out down back, while Hunt and Neal-Bullen both put their hands up for selection with strong individual outings.

“In the middle of the ground we only had the two – (James) Jordon and (Tom) Sparrow – and they were both really strong,” Richardson said.

“Sparrow was particularly impressive with his clearance work and his up and back run.”

And in defence, it was Trent Rivers and Joel Smith who were holding down the fort.

“They both defended well and both boys gave us a bit of drive out of the backline, so overall we were really pleased with them,” Richardson said.

“Our message all the way through has been we’re going to continue to reward people that are in good form … and if you’re not in the team you have to make sure you’re doing that.

“With that in mind, they all did a really good job.

“We’re grateful to the Blues, we’re grateful to the Tigers and we’re grateful to the Bombers to be able to help us pull a team together and get the right amount of numbers.”

Adam Tomlinson didn’t partake in the match as he was the club’s carry-over emergency for the clash with Brisbane.