Melbourne Demons 2024: Petracca, Viney look sharp without Clayton Oliver as Demons complete match simulation
The Demons are preparing to lose one of their new recruits to a serious hamstring injury suffered at training. Plus more from Melbourne match simulation here.
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Melbourne recruit Tom Fullarton is set to start the new season on the sidelines after suffering a suspected serious hamstring injury on Friday.
There are fears the former Brisbane back-up big man, who was brought in to replace departed tall Brodie Grundy, damaged his hamstring tendon in a blow to the club’s ruck stocks.
The club sent the 24-year-old off for scans on Friday and were preparing to be without Fullarton for several months if there was serious damage to his hamstring tendon.
It is another setback for the Demons who have also lost superstar midfielder Clayton Oliver for an indefinite period due to personal reasons and veteran forward Ben Brown to knee surgery.
Veteran wingman Lachie Hunter is also the comeback from a calf problem.
It was hoped 200cm Fullarton could help support superstar ruckman Max Gawn in a ruck-forward role, but his absence for the start of the season could again leave Gawn one-out.
Tom McDonald, who will return to a key defensive position this year, could help support Gawn in the ruck, along with impressive young goal kicker Jacob van Rooyen in the early rounds.
Melbourne is scheduled to play its first preseason game against Carton in four-and-half weeks’ time on Wednesday, February 28 at Ikon Park.
The Demons will face-off against Grundy and his new club Sydney Swans in the first clash of the season in Round 0 on Thursday, March 7 at the SCG.
In better news for the Demons, swingman Harrison Petty is set to resume full training in the next fortnight in a bid to play against the Swans in the season-opener.
Petty missed the finals due to a serious foot injury and turned down strong interest from Adelaide in the trade period to join the Crows.
MAY COPS KNOCK, STILL NO OLIVER AS DEMONS HIT MATCH SIMULATION
The wintry conditions out at Casey Fields gave Melbourne a perfect chance to hone its wet-weather skills in Friday’s match simulation.
Star midfielder Clayton Oliver was again unsighted as he remains away from the playing group, however the club expects him to return in the coming weeks.
The rain was sporadic, giving the two sides different conditions to train in over the course of the session.
TRAINING NOTES
Melbourne opted to run relatively mixed teams for the match simulation, but the white team possessed the ‘probables’ defence and the blue team had the ‘probables’ midfield, with some exceptions.
Angus Brayshaw continued to build into his pre-season, with the defender back in full-contact drills this week.
He started in defence, but also pinch hit in the midfield at times and was the primary ball user off half back.
Adam Tomlinson and Tom McDonald both played in defence for the blue team, while 2021 draftee Blake Howes lined up alongside Steven May and Jake Lever in defence.
Howes had a difficult job playing on Bailey Fritsch, conceding a goal early but holding himself quite well.
Defender Trent Rivers ran through the midfield, often lining up on Christian Petracca and at times beating the Brownlow Medal fancy in contest work.
First-round talent Caleb Windsor spent most of the session on the wing, however earned some run in the midfield.
Windsor spent most of the day lining up next to new recruit Jack Billings, with Windsor on the blue team.
Alex Neal-Bullen also spent time in the first-choice midfield rotation, starting alongside Jack Viney and Petracca.
Tom Fullarton and Will Verrall rotated through the ruck role against captain Max Gawn, but were no match for the superstar tall.
Fullarton is now facing an extended period on the sidelines due to a potentially serious hamstring injury.
Jed Adams played deep forward despite being drafted as a defender in 2022.
Star defender Steven May suffered a corkie late in the session and began coming off the ground before the ball rebounded back into defence and he put on a goal-saving spoil.
He remained on the field for the rest of the session.
HIGHLIGHTS
Melbourne fans couldn’t help but smile when Petracca comfortably slotted his set shots both during the warm up and match simulation.
The star midfielder had an infamously poor conversion rate in 2023, but it was difficult to miss for Petracca despite the windy and wet conditions.
Former Crow Shane McAdam popped up at times, kicking an opportunistic goal against momentum and laying some strong tackles in the first quarter.
Neal-Bullen had a deft kick in traffic that hit Brayshaw streaming through the centre square, with the switch of play sparking a set shot and goal.
Viney starred through the midfield, winning plenty of contested ball and laying bone-crunching tackles despite it being an intra-club clash.
ABSENTEES
Matthew Jefferson did not participate fully in the session, with the prized recruit out of the 2022 draft was kept out of drills, instead completing a running program along the fan-packed boundary side.
Andy Moniz-Wakefield and Tom Sparrow completed their own modified program early in the session before they were sent to run laps.
Christian Salem, who had been limited in his training earlier in the week due to hamstring complaints, started the session with the main group but was pulled out about an hour in and sent for sprint work with Moniz-Wakefield.
The pair then did not participate in match simulation work, instead continuing their sprint work before taking a seat on the bench.
Harrison Petty was also pulled out of the session just before the match simulation, instead hitting the exercise bike with Jefferson.
Lachie Hunter also didn’t train, instead running messages for both teams and calling players for interchanges.
Originally published as Melbourne Demons 2024: Petracca, Viney look sharp without Clayton Oliver as Demons complete match simulation
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