MELBOURNE coach Mark Neeld says the Demons will rotate players on Hawthorn forward Lance Franklin on Friday night rather than set one defender the sole task.

With Lance Franklin and Cyril Rioli looming as danger players after their combined 11-goal performance against St Kilda, the Demons must find a way to curtail the talented pair.

When asked if he would set the challenge for a player like James Frawley or if he would opt for multiple individuals, he said he was likely to go with the latter.
 
He said it was important for all players in the frame for the match up to be aware of Franklin's capabilities. 
 
"Most clubs would lock in two or three [on Franklin]. You'll always have one player that will spend more time on an opposition forward than the others," Neeld said on Thursday.
 
"But all teams nowadays, there are heavy rotations and you'll need to use a few players.
 
"There will probably be three defenders that will spend time on Buddy, and there will be one who will probably spend a little bit more on him than the others."

While much of the talk this week will be about such Hawks, it will also focus on building from the signs Neeld believes his players showed against Geelong last Saturday.

"I don't want to send the players out tomorrow night with absolutely no discussion on Hawthorn and some of the tactics they use," Neeld said on Thursday.

"We've had a bit of a look at them this week. When you're starting out and things are new to the players, it's really important you give that a bit of focus during the week.

"But you need to focus a little bit on what the opposition are doing, and depending on where your club is at, list development, position on the ladder, that balance will always change."

Jack Watts showed "relatively good intensity" last week in the VFL, which is enough to leave him in the mix for a call up.

Liam Jurrah, in his first game for the year, showed encouraging signs but how far away he is from a senior game remains unknown.

Neeld said he felt he had seen improvement in his team over the past three weeks, with the team performing "more to the way we want to play".

He also defended the form of Jack Trengove, and said he was happy with how both he and co-captain Jack Grimes had been playing in key areas.

"[Trengove's] been pretty good. I think he's top three in terms of disposals for us, which is a good effort," he said.

"His performance against Geelong in the role that he had through the midfield against some quality players, he had the second most disposals for us and was able to run the game out really well.

"He's been playing pretty well. Both the skippers are going well."

Neeld declined to comment on Brent Moloney or Mark Jamar's future at the club, despite the former's manager stating he would test the market for his client. 

The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the AFL or its clubs.

Jennifer Witham is a reporter for AFL Media. Follow her on Twitter @AFL_JenWitham.