MELBOURNE will be taking no risks with captain Max Gawn, with coach Simon Goodwin saying the star ruckman will need to prove he’s at 100 per cent fitness before he’ll be given the green light.

Gawn has missed just one match since suffering a fractured fibula against West Coast in Round 17.

Whoever takes the ruck mantle against Fremantle we face a tough test in former Demon Luke Jackson and his ruck-mate Sean Darcy.

This week's press conference focuses are brought to you by Fujifilm. 

No Risks for Gawn

“We certainly won't take a risk. This isn't the time of year to take a risk with any of our players,” Goodwin said.

“We need to make sure he's actually 100% ready to go.

“He walks into the office every day and says, coach, I'll be right.

“That's the mentality he has… and we love that mindset about him – that he's prepared to push the boundaries and also try and get himself as healthy as he can, as quick as he can.

“Our responsibility is to make sure he steps through the process the right way. He is 100% clear, and that will give us confidence for him to play.”

McVee on the Rise

“He's obviously still very young in his career but his ability to win contest, his ability to use the ball, his ability to step in traffic is something that we really love about him,” Goodwin said.

“We give him a task most weeks, the last few weeks he's evolved his game offensively again to take some real command in games.

“There's no doubt in time we see him being able to step further up the ground and through our midfield, as has Trent Rivers.”

The Ruck Equation

“I said post-game that everything was on the table for a variety of reasons,” Goodwin said.

“We're playing Jackson and Darcy, a different ruck combination and obviously we still don't know about Max at this point.

“We know what we're coming up against though. We've got two high-quality ruckmen that we're dealing with.

“It is one element of the game, and there's many other elements to the game that we need to be good at.”

The Demon Youth Movement

“That's what we've seen in recent weeks, is the younger players have stepped up,” Goodwin said.

“They've grabbed the opportunity and want to show that the Melbourne footy club, is here to stay and is here to continue the process of being a great footy club.

“Those guys are leading our footy club incredibly well and filling that void.”

The Fremantle Challenge

“Certainly in the last month, we've been playing in a way that's highly competitive,” Goodwin said.

“That previous game against Fremantle in Alice Springs, we were uncompetitive in all elements of our game.

“I'd like to think that we've changed a lot in that space. There’s a real determination and competitiveness about our group at the moment.

“We know the challenge that they [Fremantle] present around the ball around stoppage and clearance and their ability to use the ball incredibly well.

“They're well-coached and they're well organized and they're a tough challenge and they're one of the better teams to the comp for a reason.”