COACH Paul Roos says big men Chris Dawes and Sam Frost will add flexibility to the side for Saturday’s clash against Hawthorn at the MCG.
Dawes, who has missed most of the season with a calf injury, has played three matches back with Casey and been an impressive performer. He will play his first match for Melbourne this year. Frost has featured in five games for the red and blue this season and has played the past three matches in the VFL.
But Roos said the duo was capable of playing multiple roles this weekend.
“Dawesy will probably pinch-hit a little bit in the ruck, but we haven’t been unhappy with what Wattsy’s (Jack Watts) doing, but it gives us a bit more flexibility with Dawesy down there,” he said on Melbourne TV’s Roos’ Views.
“We had [Justin] Westhoff against us on the wing last weekend, so it would’ve been nice to play Jack [Watts] on the wing against Westhoff. So there are some things that we can do with Dawesy, but predominantly he’s a forward and then we can ruck either Wattsy or Dawesy.
“Frosty, we’ve been playing down back in the VFL team, and he comes in really to replace Col Garland, as that third tall with Oscar McDonald, Tom McDonald and Frost.
“We’re looking forward to seeing him play down back, because he’s played down there a bit [when he was] at the Giants. He’s played more forward with us, but he’s done well as a defender at VFL level.”
Meanwhile, Roos said former co-captain Jack Grimes was unlucky not to earn a recall for Saturday’s clash against Hawthorn at the MCG.
Roos said Grimes was in the mix to play his first match of the season, but instead he will be an emergency for the eighth time in 2016.
“Jack’s been playing a fair bit on the wing, so we’re thinking Trenners is ahead of him at the moment, as that inside midfield type,” he said.
“But certainly Grimesy is that one out of that group who is a little bit unlucky, because he’s playing some pretty solid footy.”