COACH Dean Bailey has already flagged changes for next Sunday’s clash against St Kilda at Etihad Stadium.
On the back of Melbourne’s disappointing 44-point loss to Adelaide at AAMI Stadium on Sunday, Bailey said he would look at rejigging the side against the Saints, after they defeated top-of-the-table Geelong this round.
Skipper James McDonald (hamstring) and forward/midfielder Colin Sylvia (toe) are among the contenders, likely to return from injury.
“I think we have to look at a couple of [changes] or probably some change. I don’t know how many, whether it’s one or two,” Bailey said post-match.
“The great challenge is for the guys who were poor [against Adelaide] to actually show something next week as well.
“You’ve got to weigh that up and we didn’t get any injuries, so that might give us an opportunity to train them a little harder. If you don’t bring it to the game, we’ll get it out of you during the week.”
Although there were few positives to take from the game, Bailey did manage to highlight the efforts of Jack Grimes and Matthew Bate.
“I think Jack Grimes [was good]. We put him onball and we made a few changes, because we had to. He competes hard all day, anyway, Jack,” he said.
“I thought Matthew Bate, playing in our forward line, was good for us.
“We didn’t service our forward line anywhere near as good as we should have, so it was a pretty tough area to play."
But Bailey said those performances mattered little in the overall picture, considering the team’s slow start and inability to string together four quarters.
“Individuals in these sorts of losses are not as important as the collective group.
“The collective group - you saw the results in the stats - they spell a pretty simple message.
“Our collective effort and collective competitiveness just wasn’t there.”
On the back of Melbourne’s disappointing 44-point loss to Adelaide at AAMI Stadium on Sunday, Bailey said he would look at rejigging the side against the Saints, after they defeated top-of-the-table Geelong this round.
Skipper James McDonald (hamstring) and forward/midfielder Colin Sylvia (toe) are among the contenders, likely to return from injury.
“I think we have to look at a couple of [changes] or probably some change. I don’t know how many, whether it’s one or two,” Bailey said post-match.
“The great challenge is for the guys who were poor [against Adelaide] to actually show something next week as well.
“You’ve got to weigh that up and we didn’t get any injuries, so that might give us an opportunity to train them a little harder. If you don’t bring it to the game, we’ll get it out of you during the week.”
Although there were few positives to take from the game, Bailey did manage to highlight the efforts of Jack Grimes and Matthew Bate.
“I think Jack Grimes [was good]. We put him onball and we made a few changes, because we had to. He competes hard all day, anyway, Jack,” he said.
“I thought Matthew Bate, playing in our forward line, was good for us.
“We didn’t service our forward line anywhere near as good as we should have, so it was a pretty tough area to play."
But Bailey said those performances mattered little in the overall picture, considering the team’s slow start and inability to string together four quarters.
“Individuals in these sorts of losses are not as important as the collective group.
“The collective group - you saw the results in the stats - they spell a pretty simple message.
“Our collective effort and collective competitiveness just wasn’t there.”
