DEFENDER Jared Rivers says Melbourne is yet to field its best 22, but will be close to having its prime personnel on the park in the second half of the season.

Although Rivers is not using injuries as an excuse for Melbourne's win-loss record after nine rounds he said they had impacted on the developing side.

"It's definitely fair to say we haven't had our best team out there all in the one game this season. I don't know if people realise that," he told melbournefc.com.au.

"We're not saying, 'We're not playing our best, because we haven't got our best team in each week'. But it does help when you have a settled side and your best 22 is out there each week.

"We've still got Paul Wheatley out, who played his first game this year last week for Casey [reserves] against North Ballarat. Hopefully he can step up in the next few weeks, because he's a vital part of our team.
 
"He is one of the best kicks in the AFL, so to get him back in the team will be great for us."

The Demons have yet to see exciting forward Austin Wonaeamirri (hamstring/knee) and Wheatley (calf) this season, along with No.1 draftee Jack Watts, who has yet to taste an AFL match.

Defender Colin Garland and ruckman John Meesen both have foot injuries and are out indefinitely. Another young-gun Sam Blease is also out for 2009.

But Rivers said that, despite the personnel issues and the lack of on-field results, the team had definitely progressed since 2008.

"As a group, we definitely feel we've played better footy, but wins and losses don't show that," he said.

"Definitely our fans can now see what we're trying to do. As each week goes on, hopefully they can see improvement.

"The basics – kicking and handballing – we need to get better at and we know that as a group. They're areas we need to improve on."

Although there is genuine optimism about Melbourne's future, Rivers said not winning was tough.

"We're probably not that far away and that's the thing that excites us the most, but we need to get some reward out of it," he said.

"We're putting a lot of hard work in – from the playing group to the coaching staff to [president] Jim Stynes and the board. As a whole club, we want to see some success, but within our inner group of coaches and players, we want to see some reward.

"We started on October 13 last year and that's a long time ago and we haven't had a lot of success. Hopefully come Saturday night against St Kilda, we can have a real crack at it."