STAR Melbourne ruckman Max Gawn is drawing inspiration from the Western Bulldogs' and Richmond's premierships as his Demons suffer through a form trough.
Sunday's shock two-point defeat to St Kilda means Melbourne has lost three straight matches for the first time since rounds three to five last year.
But Gawn, comfortably the Demons' best player against the Saints with 25 disposals, 11 marks and 39 hit-outs, is confident of a quick turnaround in the club's fortunes.
They will have to return to their blistering form of earlier in the season if they are to return to finals for the first time since 2006, with a challenging draw to come.
"We're still playing our brand of football the majority of the time," Gawn said.
"Teams that won flags in recent years have always been in good form towards the end of the year, so that's what we're aiming to do.
"But in no (way) are we trying to lose games in round 13 … I've got full confidence we can turn that around, especially with the form we had at the start of the year, last week against Port Adelaide and at times (on Sunday)."
Melbourne's coaching staff has big decisions to make at either end of the ground.
Neither Joel Smith nor debutant Harrison Petty is yet to prove he is the answer in defender Jake Lever's absence, while the forward structure is also a work in progress.
The No.9 draft pick from 2015 Sam Weideman's inclusion gave the Demons three forwards 194cm or taller – along with Jesse Hogan and Tom McDonald – on top of 188cm target Bayley Fritsch.
Melbourne again failed to turn inside-50 dominance into victory, although coach Simon Goodwin conceded the delivery into attack was a significant reason.
Out-of-sorts goalsneak Jeff Garlett, who has kicked 40 goals or more in two of his three completed seasons as a Demon, could be part of the solution, but is yet to make a strong case with his VFL form.
"Tommy and Jesse are still trying to jell. We've seen both of them have great individual games, but not at the same time so far this year," Gawn said.
"I'm not sure if that's important that both of them play unbelievably well every game, but … now Weideman is in there as well.
"It looks like Tommy and 'Weids' can potentially play taller and Jesse can play a bit smaller, but then you see how good Jesse is when he does play a bit taller and closer to goal late (in the game), so I'll leave that to the coaches."
Gawn was keen for another shot at Fremantle great Aaron Sandilands in Darwin on Saturday night, but the 211cm Docker is in doubt because of a calf complaint.
"He's got my strengths, so the strengths I use on other players are what he uses on me," he said.
"I like to think I've developed a little bit since last time I played him and hopefully I will chuck a few tricks at him, but he's a star and has been for 10 years, so I'm looking forward to the battle.
"I'm happy how things are going with my own form, but three losses on the trot quickly overrides that … so I'm excited for Sandilands, but I couldn't care if he smashes me and we win the game – it's got to that point."
