MELBOURNE will be heading interstate in Round 2, with the Suns awaiting for a battle on the Gold Coast.

And while the Demons’ defence looks a little different to the latter stages of last season, backline coach Troy Chaplin has plenty of options at his disposal.

“It’s something that we pride ourselves on, is making sure that our guys who are depth players come in and play a role for us and are able to perform,” Chaplin told Melbourne Media.

“We used Gussy (Brayshaw) back, knowing that we’d lost Riv (Trent Rivers) and … Hibbo (Michael Hibberd), so we knew that needed a little bit of experience down there.

“So Angus has moved back there and been fantastic for us.

“Then losing Salo (Christian Salem) mid-game was disappointing so to be able to put Tommy (McDonald) back, who’s an experienced player and has played down there before, he just slotted in seamlessly.

“It was satisfying seeing those guys perform so well but it’s going to be another challenge for us this week.

“Gold Coast’s forwards present a different look for us.”

The Suns are fresh off a 27-point victory, running over the Eagles in Perth last Sunday night.

And their eight-goal final term will have the Dees’ coaching staff wary.

“Obviously a bit of a longer build up for us coaches and it just gives us a bit more time to prepare for the Gold Coast,” Chaplin said.

“They’re very good around the contest – they have been for a couple of years now under Dewy (Stuart Dew).

“No doubt that our mids – especially our inside players – are going to have a real challenge.

“But they also have some dangerous players up forward.

“Their small forwards: (Ben) Ainsworth, (Nick) Holman and Izak Rankine, they hit the scoreboard.

“And now they’ve got two really big targets down there.

“Obviously with (Ben) King going out with his ACL, (Mabior) Chol and (Levi) Casboult provide that aerial support down there for them.

“We know that the contest is going to be really important this week up there, and conditions that can be a little bit slippery at times, and humid.

“I’m looking forward to it and I think our boys are too.”

Melbourne should be primed for the clash at Metricon Stadium on the back of a nine-day break following its win over the Dogs.

“We gave the boys the weekend off just to freshen up mentally,” Chaplin said.

“It’s a very long season and they’ve been fantastic all pre-season so the weekend was off, but we got straight back into it.

“They trained really well today.

“It was obviously our first real hit-out for a little while, but it was great to see the intensity on the track.”