Melbourne star Christian Petracca has admitted he may be spending more time forward this season, while teammate Clayton Oliver could be playing in "different positions" throughout the Demons' 2023 campaign.
The dynamic midfield duo shined in Melbourne's match simulation against St Kilda as the Demons cruised to a comfortable win, with Petracca attending 50% of centre bounces and kicking three goals. Oliver meanwhile, who claimed Melbourne's best and fairest award for the fourth time last year, attended 70.8% of centre bounces.
Despite the duo's midfield minutes, Petracca admitted on SEN on Thursday that both he and Oliver could find themselves in slightly different positions this season.
"We need to keep evolving and developing as a football club and we need to keep putting guys in different situations that can help us as a footy club. I'm playing a bit more forward, Clayton Oliver we might see playing different positions as well," Petracca said.
Any potential positional switch would hinge on the fitness of midfielder Jack Viney, with fresh reports on Thursday suggesting the Demon had suffered a knee injury.
Sam Edmund reported on SEN that the 28-year-old suffered an injury during training and was sent for scans, and could potentially be sidelined for the beginning of Melbourne's 2023 campaign.
Football boss Alan Richardson stated the club is hopeful Viney won't miss Melbourne's season opener.
"Pleasingly there isn't any significant damage to his knee," Richardson told Edmund.
"While he will miss this weekend's practice match against Richmond, we don't anticipate him to be further impacted ahead of the season."
Elsewhere at the Dees, Petracca is confident Kysaiah Pickett is going to be a dynamic element in the midfield after being handed a bigger role in the middle during the match simulation against the Saints.
"He's going to add another dimension to our midfield that is really scary," Petracca said on Pickett.
"We can see what he does with the footy when he's around the forward line and kicking goals but when you put that up to the second half of the ground he's able to do that and add another dynamic to us."
Melbourne will face Richmond in their final pre-season hitout this weekend, scheduled for 4:10pm (AEST) on Sunday, before their season gets underway against the Bulldogs on Saturday, March 18 at the MCG.
