MELBOURNE is hopeful for the return of its skipper Max Gawn, after being sidelined for two weeks with a fractured fibula.
With main training still to come, Gawn has a number of boxes to tick before being able to lace up his boots and return to the MCG.
Midfield coach Andrew McQualter addressed the media in place of head coach Simon Goodwin, who is absent due to illness.
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Gawn’s possible return
“We’re hopeful, we’ve still got main training to go,” McQualter told the media.
“We’ll do match committee after training but he’s out there preparing to fully train and hopefully he’s good to go.
“I think he was keen to play the day after the injury.
“He’s really driven, skipper of the club so he’s certainly doing everything he can to be ready.”
Looking to return to contest best
“It was incredibly disappointing, when you get smacked around the ball like that you really don’t give yourself much of a chance of winning,” McQualter said.
“So, it’s very disappointing for our point of view, we just didn’t get it done in there in the midfield.
“We had a strong review yesterday and put in some plans to make it better, over the last six weeks we’ve been a lot better in that aspect of the game [contest] but this week we were really disappointing.”
Petty contract extension
“It’s a terrific result, it’s awesome, we love Petts here at the footy club,” said McQualter.
“He’s building his footy every week, he’s got such flexibility for us, he plays across different parts of the ground.
“He’s played second ruck for us throughout the year and done it in the past as well and he’s got a skill set that he can do that.
“We’re just rapt he’s going to be here for a few more years.”
Slowing down Whitfield
“Yeah he’s [Lachie Whitfield] a great player, he’s been an All-Australian player before and he does provide a lot of drive for them [Giants],” McQualter said.
“He’s an elite runner and we’re wary of him, and we’ll have discussions in our strategy meeting about putting some plans to him.
“He [Neal-Bullen] has a skill set that can match it with him, but we’ll have to sit down and see what the plan is for us.”
