ASSISTANT coach George Stone says the match committee is confident key forward Chris Dawes will be ready to go, despite not having played a match this year, aside from an intra-club clash in February.
Speaking to Dee TV, Stone said Dawes had worked hard for the past month on the training track and had done everything in his power to be rushed straight back into the AFL.
“Chris has now trained for four weeks and he hasn’t got a lot of match condition behind him, but his training has been really, really good and constant, so we’re confident that his condition’s OK – it’s just his touch,” he said.
“But we’ve brought him in and he’s going to add another tall to our forward line, which in the last couple of weeks we’ve needed to juggle a few guys around.
“He’s a forward – and a good forward – so it’s nice to have him back in the side, so that’s exciting for us.”
The highly-respected and long-serving football mentor said Dawes could form a three pronged forward set-up with Lynden Dunn and James Frawley, who both played up forward against Greater Western Sydney last round.
Dunn, although originally drafted to the club as a forward, and Frawley had been key parts of the Melbourne defence until their switch for an entire match last round.
“We’ve probably gone from no forwards to two genuine forwards in Dunny and Dawesy, and Chipper’s a different story,” Stone said.
“We were pleased with his (Frawley’s) performance last week and we’ll go with it again this week, so let’s hope that we’ll win some ball around the middle and get on top in the midfield and give those forwards an opportunity to kick a goal for us.”
The midfield and strategy coach said tagger Jordie McKenzie was a welcome addition to the side, after a foot injury kept him out for the start of the home and away season.
McKenzie returned to collect 31 disposals for Casey against Essendon at Windy Hill last Sunday.
“Jordie’s been playing well at Casey and he’s deserved his chance,” Stone said.
“He’s got a couple of good targets to play on – or guys we’d like him to play on – so it’s a good opportunity for Jordie as well.”
Stone said his midfield was disappointing last round against the Giants and had worked tirelessly throughout the week to correct their performance.
“We didn’t do well in the midfield last week. Our clearances were well in favour of GWS, so wasn’t pleasing for us, but we’ve gone away this week and done our homework and we’re trying to get that worked out,” he said.
“We’re hoping for a much-improved effort this week from our mids, especially around the clearances and stop plays.
“We’re going to rely on big Spence (Jake Spencer) to get his hands on the ball and our mids to go to work. We’re hoping that’ll be a big improvement in our game this week.”
Stone said Saturday’s clash against Carlton at the MCG was another important step in Melbourne’s development.
“Every game’s a big match – we’re still young and learning how to play under Paul Roos – so every game’s important.”
“We expect Carlton [to come out strong], after they got a bit of a hiding from Essendon last week. Knowing Mick Malthouse, they’ll (Carlton) be well and truly stirred up to play well this week.
“It’s going to be a big challenge for us, but we’re looking forward to it and we’re looking forward to improving every week, so this is another opportunity for us.”
Meanwhile, Stone praised Clark for making the tough call to retire earlier in the week, due to clinical depression.
“It’s a very sensitive matter and it’s something the coaches and the playing group have been dealing with for a while now – since before Christmas.”
“It’s one of those issues that you don’t really know what’s going on, but I’m pleased for Mitch to make a decision that he doesn’t want to continue playing, because now the group – as much as they can – won’t be wondering what’s going on anymore.
“It gives them a chance to move on and focus back on their footy again.”
