Melbourne midfielder Christian Salem pumped for Queen’s Birthday blockbuster against Collingwood

MELBOURNE young-gun Christian Salem said he is primed to tackle Collingwood in his first Queen’s Birthday clash at the MCG on Monday.

Melbourne training at Goschs Paddock. Bernie Vince and Christian Salem. Pic: Michael Klein. Monday May 5, 2014.

MELBOURNE young gun Christian Salem said he is primed to tackle Collingwood in his first Queen’s Birthday clash at the MCG on Monday.

Salem said he was “excited” to face the Pies’ aggressive midfield despite having only played five games.

Following a blistering performance against Port Adelaide — in which he racked up two goals from 16 disposals — Salem sought the advice of seasoned teammates ahead of the match.

“[I’ve been] speaking to a few of the boys about the last few years, and they’re all up and about for this one,” Salem told the club’s website.

Melbourne young gun Christian Salem celebrates kicking a goal against Port Adelaide. Picture: Justin Brierty

The 18-year-old is hoping the hype of playing in the blockbuster will not detract from his performance.

“I’ll put in a big week and prepare the same,” he said.

“The last two weeks have been good from a development point of view ... last week was my first full game and I felt a little bit lost at times.

“The first three weeks were as a sub, so it was a bit hard coming on for a quarter, if that.”

Salem said Paul Roos and the coaching staff had not made any concrete plans for managing his workload for the rest of the season.

“With the younger guys, it’s more one week at a time,” Salem said.

“I pulled up fine last week, so I’m feeling good and we’ll see how we go.”

Originally published as Melbourne midfielder Christian Salem pumped for Queen’s Birthday blockbuster against Collingwood