COACH Neil Craig has flagged the possibility of bringing in a debutant before the season’s end.
Speaking in the Craig Report on Dee TV, Craig said hinted that Melbourne could still unleash another first gamer in 2013. He added that there were still “plenty of things to look forward to” this year, with “hopefully one or two new players coming in”.
“It’s really important for us to use the next four weeks to our absolute maximum, and to continue to improve the type of player we’re planning for, training for and trying to present in games,” Craig said.
“There could be opportunities for new players to come into the side, so they get to experience AFL football.
“So it’s important to, what we would call, ‘run to the line’ and right to the end of the season, so when the club reconvenes for its pre-season, we squeeze everything we could’ve out of the season.”
Melbourne has four players yet to play an AFL match: Troy Davis, Rory Taggert, Dom Barry and Nathan Stark.
Davis has been the closest to making his senior debut this year, having been an emergency three times, including last round against Greater Western Sydney. Taggert, in his second year, has produced some good form in recent times for Casey.
Barry and Stark are both in their first year at the club. Barry has mostly played in the VFL seniors, while Stark has had an injury riddled year, managing five development league games in the VFL.
Craig said this round’s clash was an opportunity to travel and perform on the road.
“It’s an opportunity for us to travel again, which is really important, to give our guys experience on how to travel and still perform on the road,” he said.
“We’ll continue to try and look for improvement over what we’re doing over the next four week block.”