VERSATILE Demon Harrison Petty will return to the back six to begin his 2025 campaign.
Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin revealed the change at last night’s annual general meeting – spruiking a youth movement ahead of the ball featuring young spearheads Daniel Turner and Jacob van Rooyen.
The front six aren’t set in stone with a number of young talls vying for positions and Petty and Tom McDonald standing by to provide assistance if required.
Petty managed nine goals from 20 games in his first full season as a forward, with bright spots including a three-vote Brownlow performance against Geelong and three-goal outing on the Gold Coast.
“We’ll probably initially start with Harry Petty back through the pre-season, but we’ve got to be open minded about his versatility that he can provide forward,” Goodwin said.
“We’ll have some versatility with Tom McDonald and Harrison Petty.”
Goodwin discussed the slew of young forward options including Luker Kentfield, Matthew Jefferson and Aidan Johnson.
Former first round selection Jefferson is closing in on his first senior game after a strong finish to the VFL season saw him take home the Troy Broadbridge Memorial Trophy as the Best VFL Player.
Kentfield arrived at the club via the 2024 mid-season draft and is completing his first pre-season as a 194cm, aggressive pack-breaker.
Johnson was snapped up in November’s draft as a mature-aged, 24-year-old prospect from Werribee VFL, making his name as a hard-hitting premiership forward.
“Fundamentally we’re going to be young. It’s exciting,” Goodwin said.
“We think they’ve all got enormous talent that they can bring to our group, but we need to be open minded about how we structure up our front half of the ground.
“We’ve got Jacob van Rooyen, Daniel Turner, Luker Kentfield who are our key forwards.
"We’ve got Matthew Jefferson who has continued to improve and we’ve got in Aidan Johnson this year from Werribee.
"He’s a big body guy that can play key forward but can also be a second ruck for us as well.
“Players will end up selecting themselves, the forward line will work itself out through the pre-season but we’re excited about what that’s going to look like going forward.”
