Ben Brown likely to return for AFL Gather Round in three-pronged Demons attack
Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin says he is confident Ben Brown will return this weekend, and has no issues going taller in attack.
AFL
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Melbourne is likely to regain Ben Brown for its Gather Round clash against Essendon on Saturday, but the Demons are sweating on the fitness of key defender Jake Lever.
Coach Simon Goodwin says he expects Brown to be available for selection in a development that will pose some tough questions for the Demons’ match committee.
“We’re confident that (Brown) will be right to go – he had a pretty strong session over the weekend, but he’s got to get through training today,” Goodwin said.
“We’re confident that he’ll get through and be available for selection … that’s going to cause us a few headaches with what we do with our team.
“Clearly we’ve got a group of talls that are in good form, so we’ll have to make some decisions.”
Goodwin said Jake Lever would be tested later in the week and would not train with the main group on Wednesday as he battles to overcome an ankle injury picked up in the Demons’ 63-point win over West Coast in Perth.
He confirmed fellow defender Michael Hibberd would miss at least a week as he battles a sore Achilles, which has hampered him over the last fortnight.
“Hibbo won’t get up … he’s had a sore Achilles for a couple of weeks and we’re just going to make sure we get that right,” Goodwin said.
“We don’t need to be taking a risk with a player of Hibbo’s age at this stage in the season.
We’ll assess Jake later in the week, we’ll make sure that he’s right to go. He won’t do much today, he’ll probably train later in the week and we’ll be able to make the call then.”
If Lever is unavailable against Essendon, Harrison Petty is likely to return to defence after being used as a forward target and occasional ruckman in the absence of Brown and skipper Max Gawn.
Goodwin said he had no concerns playing Brown, Tom McDonald and Jacob van Rooyen in the same forward line.
“Yep, (we) sure can … if you go back over the last three years we’ve generally played with three talls in our forward line for the majority of our time,” he said.
“Tom and Ben have pretty much had some chemistry together for three years now, and Jacob will just add to that, so there’s no doubt all those guys can play together.”
Goodwin said James Harmes had returned to the club this week after a period of absence due to personal reasons, and would play in the VFL on the weekend.
“It’s fantastic to see him, he’s got a smile on his face, he’s ready to go and he’s eager to get back into footy,” Goodwin said.
Originally published as Ben Brown likely to return for AFL Gather Round in three-pronged Demons attack
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