THE development of rookie Max King has pleased coach Paul Roos, who says the young forward/ruckman has made strong progress in recent weeks.
King, whose opening six matches of the season were in the AFL Victoria Development League, was promoted for his first VFL match this year last week. The big man booted five goals and was one of Casey’s best in its win against Coburg at Casey Fields.
Roos said the New South Welshman had made the most of his opportunities in recent weeks and was looking forward to him continuing to develop at Casey.
“I’ve seen him a play a couple of times this year in the Development League and he’s starting to get his hands on the ball and starting to play well,” he told Dee TV.
“The good thing is that even though he’s playing in the Development League, he can still develop, but I also think you need to demand your spot in the VFL team and he was able to do that with a really consistent performance.
“It shows that if you’re in good form in one comp, it’s a lot easier to transfer that – rather than just putting him [in the VFL] because he’s a Melbourne player. [If people] think he’s going to just play VFL – ‘well, no [he isn’t]’.
“I think you’ve got to demand your spot at that level and then it shows that when you do that, you’re in good form and you play well. And it was good to see on the weekend.”
Meanwhile, Roos said Melbourne was getting on with business, despite being hit by injury in recent weeks.
“The Giants got struck on the weekend and you can see how quickly your season can change. Gold Coast, Melbourne and the Giants – probably half of the teams have had a tough run with injury and it’s probably our turn now. We still really want to pick a competitive team for the weekend,” he said.
“Pedo (Cam Pedersen) is unfortunately out for the season and Grimesy (Jack Grimes), we’re not sure yet, but probably somewhere between two and six [weeks], depending on how the operation went.
“The teams that generally do well are the ones that can consistently put their best team on the field and we’ve seen that with Sydney, Freo and Hawthorn this year. Those teams have been able to play less players.”
Roos said youngsters Christian Salem, Jay Kennedy-Harris, Aaron vandenBerg and Dean Kent were starting to develop the games strongly before they copped injuries.
He added that Matt Jones and Rohan Bail were in the mix to return against the Cats, but Jordie McKenzie (corked thigh) and Ben Newton (concussion) would be assessed in regards to potential call-ups, after copping injuries in the VFL last week.
Roos was optimistic about key forward Chris Dawes returning, after resuming via the VFL last week, following three matches out with a calf injury.
“Providing he pulls up fit and healthy and feels good about himself, you’d expect him to play,” he said.
With Melbourne having a bye, the week after its clash against Geelong at Simonds Stadium on Sunday, Roos said the players will get a mid-season break, before gearing up for its round 14 clash against the West Coast Eagles at TIO Stadium.
“They’ll have [the following] Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday off and we’ll try and get a good training session in on Thursday before they leave,” he said.
“Then we’ll give them a good break over that weekend.”