MELBOURNE has confirmed its final 22 for Sunday’s round eight match against the Western Bulldogs at the MCG, making five changes.
And on Friday midfielder Dom Tyson (knee) was ruled out, joining Christian Salem (hamstring) and Chris Dawes (calf), who were both forced changes on Thursday.
Jack Fitzpatrick, Aidan Riley and Ben Newton have come into the side, having been locked in on Friday.
Fitzpatrick has been named in the starting 18, while Riley and Newton have been named on the bench.
Rohan Bail, who played his first match for 2015 last round, has also been included on the interchange.
Youngster Billy Stretch has been named an emergency, after making his debut against the Swans in round six and playing the past two matches. Michie has also been named an emergency, after playing three of the past four matches.
Ruckman Max Gawn is the other emergency.
On Thursday night, Jesse Hogan was named in the started 18 after being rested in round seven, while Jack Watts was recalled after a one week stint in the VFL.
Manager of football operations Josh Mahoney said Hogan, as a young player, would be managed throughout the year.
“We made the decision to rest Jesse from the Hawthorn game but he’s fit and ready to go for this week against the Bulldogs,” Mahoney told melbournefc.com.au.
“The plan at the start of the year for all first year players is to give them some breaks through the year, whether that’s through training or through games.
“With a bye now five games away, hopefully Jesse can get through to the bye and then have another break and then we can reassess from there.”
Watts returns to the side after he collected 24 possessions and kicked a goal in Casey’s loss to Port Melbourne last week.
“We were really keen for Jack to go back to Casey and go and get his hands on the football and win some of his own footy, which he was able to do,” Mahoney said.
“We’re happy to bring him back into the side this week after he found the ball [close to] 25 times.
“He did what we wanted him to do last week, which is find the ball and get the balance right between contested and uncontested possessions.”
Salem is set to be sidelined for three to four weeks with a hamstring injury, while Dawes will miss the match as he works to recover from a calf issue. Tyson was ruled on out on Friday, due to a niggling knee complaint.
“Dawesy’s been managing a slight calf complaint and it’s been limiting what he’s been able to do on game day,” Mahoney said.
“The decision was made that until he gets on top of that complaint, he won’t be able to perform at the level we want him to perform at.
“So we decided to give him time to get that right and then bring him back into the team when he’s fully fit.”
Melbourne team: round eight
B: Colin Garland, Tom McDonald, Jack Grimes
HB: Jeremy Howe, Lynden Dunn, Heritier Lumumba
C: Daniel Cross, Aaron vandenBerg, Matt Jones
HF: Angus Brayshaw, Cameron Pedersen, Jack Watts
F: Jeff Garlett, Jesse Hogan, Jack Fitzpatrick
FOLL: Jake Spencer, Nathan Jones, Bernie Vince
I/C: Jimmy Toumpas, Ben Newton, Aidan Riley, Rohan Bail
EMG: Billy Stretch, Viv Michie, Max Gawn
IN: Jack Fitzpatrick, Jack Watts, Aidan Riley, Ben Newton, Jesse Hogan
OUT: Chris Dawes (calf), Dom Tyson (knee), Christian Salem (hamstring), Viv Michie, Billy Stretch
