SLOTTING Max Gawn back into a firing Melbourne outfit might not be as simple as it seems.

Bringing back the dominant ruckman should be an easy task and Demons coach Simon Goodwin had no doubts about selecting the big man to face West Coast on Saturday at Domain Stadium when he spoke on the weekend. 

Fair enough too – Gawn's a gun. 

However, it's worth noting how good his unlikely replacements have been. 

Since Gawn went down in round three against Geelong with a right hamstring injury, Cameron Pedersen and Tom McDonald are playing some of the best football of their lives, according to the Schick AFL Player Ratings.

Pedersen came into the side in round six and has played every game since. The 30-year-old is having a career-best season and is the ninth-ranked player in the competition in 2017. 

In the 57-point win against the Western Bulldogs last Sunday, the makeshift ruckman scored 23.3 points, which was the second-highest score of the round (behind North Melbourne big man Todd Goldstein). 

In a sign Pedersen will be able to excel as a forward, he spent half of that game in attack. Only 35 per cent of his game time was in the ruck.

McDonald, 24, started the clash with the reigning premiers in the centre square. Over the past month, the regular defender has been in the ruck 55 per cent of the time, compared to 45 per cent up forward.

He has hit the highest mark of his career in the Player Ratings, moving up to No.44.

Gawn is No.20 in the AFL and No.1 at the club, so he will be a welcome addition as the Demons aim for a fourth-straight win. 

Player Ratings are calculated by Champion Data and take into account an individual's performances in their last 40 matches over a rolling two-year period.