Dropped Melbourne recruit Brodie Grundy is in the selection frame for Sunday's matchup with Richmond after a stint in the VFL, however Simon Goodwin's plans for Round 20 are far from finalised.
The premiership coach will use the coming days to sort his side to face the Tigers, with Goodwin to weigh up whether he's seen enough from Grundy as a valuable asset forward of centre.
The former Magpie managed to kick one goal from four scoring shots in Casey's seven-goal win over Coburg last weekend as the Demons look to trial their big-name recruit in attack at both levels.
Goodwin said on Thursday that with his side's selection committee yet to reach an answer ahead of their clash at the MCG, Grundy still has a chance of facing Andrew McQualter's men this weekend.
"Obviously, there's a fair bit of talk about Brodie, but the plan hasn't changed," Goodwin said.
"He's working incredibly hard on his game. We got him some forward exposure last week at VFL level, which we're really encouraged about.
"We don't have to pick out a team for a couple of days, so we'll get through our main training session today, assess how things are going and then pick our team accordingly.
"He's in the mix, he's progressing well, and as I've said all along we think this combination will work in time.
"We're really open-minded. As we've said, we love the ruck combination and what we're trying to do is get a bigger impact when either ruck is forward of centre and Brodie is a big part of that.
"We'll continue to monitor and progress it and see what we think, but we don't have to pick our team for a couple of days."
Goodwin said the club is seeking to find synergy from how Grundy is implemented and able to work alongside his fellow forwards in the attacking third.
The Demons coach said he found positive signs from the 29-year-old's initial VFL stint, believing the two-time All-Australian will only improve his forward acumen with more opportunities on offer.
"He's got a greater understanding. You can just see with the extra time that he spent down there. The synergy and the ability to impact with patterns was there and not only that, his ability to impact the scoreboard. He had four shots on goal,"
"He looked lively at times, and I think that's only going to get better. This isn't just a short-term thing.
"This is about getting better at both short-term and long-term. All along we've said we think this can work and we're gonna work incredibly hard to make sure it does."
Goodwin noted the pressure come selection has been welcomed by the group, with the likes of Ben Brown and Jacob van Rooyen no guarantees as Jake Melksham and Christian Petracca look to leave their impact in the forward line.
"Competition for spots is high, especially now in that in that part of the ground," Goodwin said.
"Putting Jake Melksham in, and Christian Petracca, who are both travelling well that increases selection pressure for a whole range of different forwards.
"We're obviously encouraged by what the forward line has been able to do in recent weeks, but we still think we've got work to do and can still make it better. We're gonna leave no stone unturned in making it better.
"A part of that process is a little bit of personnel, but it's how we move the ball as well. There's a lot that goes into it. We feel like we're on the right path with it but we certainly want to make sure that we can win contests and defend accordingly the right way as well.
"So selection is tight, but we are going to continue to look at personnel to make our method better."
Defender Harrison Petty is expected to be available to play this weekend and will likely bolster Melbourne's rearguard in place of Adam Tomlinson.
Injured midfielder Clayton Oliver is yet to have an exact date stamped for his return from an ongoing hamstring issue, however the Demons could welcome the four-time best and fairest back next week as far as a best-case scenario.
"He's progressing well, we're probably in that Round 21-22 (timeline for a return) but we're not going to put an exact timeline on it," Goodwin said of Oliver.
"But he's definitely progressing well, he's doing a lot of full training now. We're confident that he's not that far away.
"There's still a lot of important work to get through, but we're hopeful that in the next two or three weeks that he will be putting his hand up for selection."
Melbourne and Richmond will kick-off their Round 20 encounter at 3:20pm (AEST) on the MCG this Sunday.
