AFL: Melbourne forward Ben Brown will miss again as his Demons prepare to head west to face Fremantle

Reigning premier Melbourne has suffered five losses in its past eight matches ahead of a huge clash with Fremantle in Perth.

Melbourne forward Ben Brown (middle) will miss consecutive games with ongoing knee soreness. Getty Images

Ruthlessness is the buzzword at Melbourne this week as it seeks revenge against fellow flag contender Fremantle in Perth on Friday night.

Fresh from conceding 100-plus points for the first time in three years, Demons premiership coach Simon Goodwin has spoken to his players about quickly regaining their defensive DNA.

The Dockers snapped Melbourne’s 17-match winning streak, which included last year’s grand final triumph, in late May when they kicked 12 goals to one after half-time after trailing by 30 points at one stage.

“We’ve been in winning positions a lot throughout the season, and in our losses we’ve actually had times where we’ve been 20 points up – and it happened again at the weekend,” Goodwin said.

“Bringing that consistency in how we play, that ruthlessness and that hunger about how we want to defend for long periods of time, certainly wasn’t there at the weekend (against the Bulldogs).

Star Melbourne defender Angus Brayshaw (left) and coach Simon Goodwin both spoke this week of the need for the Demons to regain their ruthlessness. Picture: Getty Images

“That’s our challenge as a footy club, because you’re not going to win many games when teams kick 110 points against you.”

The Demons will be without spearhead Ben Brown again as they tread carefully with his ongoing knee soreness but Goodwin was “really confident” he would be fit to face Collingwood next week.

Intercept specialist Jake Lever (shoulder) will return and James Jordon, who suffered a knee injury against the Dogs that he was able to play through, is expected to make the trip as well.

“A lot of teams have tried to take away some of our intercept (marking) with some of our backs in a whole range of different ways, whether it be through Jake Lever, Harrison Petty or Steven May,” Goodwin said.

“This is one of the few times in the last 10 weeks where we get these three guys back together again, so we’re looking forward to building some consistency and those guys playing together.

Jake Lever is a big addition to Melbourne’s backline after recovering from a shoulder injury. Picture: Michael Klein

“Last time we played, Steven May went off early in the game and we played a little bit smaller behind the ball, so that won’t be the case this week.”

Fremantle started the rot, in many ways, for Melbourne, which has lost five of its past eight matches, including that Dockers defeat, but Goodwin said his side has learned a lot in recent times.

“We took a lot from those three losses in succession, and Fremantle was one of those,” he said.

“Their team defence was something that was really strong on the day and we had a lot of trouble breaking through.

“We’ve made some adjustments in how we play in the last sort of five weeks that we think we’re making some progression on, in being able to deal with these types of teams.

“They got the game looking like a Fremantle game for a long period of time in that second half especially and their team defence is really solid (but) we think we’re better positioned to take them on again over there in Perth.”