MELBOURNE has added three players to its squad ahead of Sunday’s match against the Western Bulldogs at Etihad Stadium.
Christian Salem, Mark Jamar and Billy Stretch were all added to the extended interchange on Thursday, with the final team to be chosen on Friday.
No players have been omitted from last week’s team.
Salem has not played a senior game since round six, when he injured his hamstring in Melbourne’s loss to Sydney.
The young defender/midfielder suffered a setback in his return, injuring his other hamstring, but since his recovery has played three games in Casey’s senior team.
Manager of football operations Josh Mahoney said the final weeks of the season would be an opportunity for Salem to build some form.
“Christian has now played three games in the VFL after recovering from a hamstring injury and will be considered by the match committee to return to the AFL team this week,” he told melbournefc.com.au.
“It’s been a frustrating year for Christian after starting the year really well and we’re really looking forward to him finishing off the year strongly.”
Jamar was last selected at AFL level in round five but has continued to press for selection at Casey, playing 12 games for the year.
Stretch has played eight games for Melbourne since debuting in round six.
He was omitted from the side after the round 17 loss to St Kilda, was rested for one week then played for Casey in their loss to Box Hill.
Melbourne is aiming to defeat the Bulldogs for the second time this season.
The Demons registered a 39-point win over the Bulldogs at the MCG back in round eight and will be aiming to win at Etihad Stadium for the first time since 2007.
The match will also be utility Matt Jones’ 50th game.
Jones was drafted as a mature-age recruit at pick No. 52 in the 2012 NAB AFL Draft after impressive form for VFL side Box Hill Hawks.
Having played 22 games in his debut season and another 20 in 2014, Jones has played six games so far in 2015.
“It’s a good achievement from Matt to play 50 AFL games,” Mahoney said.
“Having started as a mature age player, he worked extremely hard to get his opportunity to play AFL.
“He had a major impact in his first two seasons and to reach 50 games is a really good achievement for him.”
Melbourne will play the Western Bulldogs at 3.20pm on Sunday, with the curtainraiser – the AFL Women’s Exhibition Match – starting at 12.35pm.
Melbourne Squad v Western Bulldogs
B: Colin Garland, Lynden Dunn, Neville Jetta
HB: Daniel Cross, Tom McDonald, Jeremy Howe
C: Jack Grimes, Dom Tyson, Heritier Lumumba
HF: Matt Jones, Chris Dawes, Bernie Vince
F: Jeff Garlett, Jesse Hogan, Jack Watts
Foll: Max Gawn, Nathan Jones, Jack Viney
I/C (from): Christian Salem, Angus Brayshaw, Billy Stretch, Viv Michie, Alex Neal-Bullen, Mark Jamar, James Harmes
Milestone: Matt Jones (50 games)
