Melbourne first-year player Latrelle Pickett impressed at the Dees session on Wednesday morning.
Pickett's speed and agility were captivating, enabling him to burst through traffic and weave his way into space, impressing onlookers on multiple occasions.
He pushed up to stoppage and gathered the ball cleanly on multiple occasions before accelerating forward, acting as a conduit between the midfield and attack.
Sixty days out from Round 1, almost a third of Melbourne's list did not take part in match simulation due to varying injuries.
Skipper Max Gawn, veteran Jack Viney and recruit Brody Mihocek were the biggest names limited to running, with the latter pair both continuing to nurse injury concerns sustained prior to Christmas.
Changkuoth Jiath took part in the session as he continues to build his loads, while first-year forward Thomas Matthews integrated into light drills before building up his running loads as he recovers from a knee injury.
Positively, Xavier Lindsay took part in the entire session after his loads had been managed prior to Christmas.
Jack Henderson, Harry Sharp, Shane McAdam and Andy Moniz-Wakefield were others limited to running, while Bailey Laurie and Jake Bowey were unsighted, the latter due to a confirmed long-term Lisfranc injury.
Tom Campbell was also missing, with Max Heath dueling with Aidan Johnson in the ruck.
As well as Mihocek, Jake Melksham was also sidelined, putting responsibility on Matt Jefferson to support Jacob van Rooyen up forward, while Luker Kentfield was the main man up the other end.
Pending the fitness of Mihocek and Melksham, Jefferson and Kentfield could be battling for the remaining taller forward spot, with Jefferson playing seven games last year, while Kentfield is yet to break through but finished the year strongly in the VFL after being swung forward.
Caleb Windsor got midfield minutes, while Kysaiah Pickett looked as classy as any when he got the ball in his hands.
Jai Culley's strong pre-season continued, using his imperious size at stoppage to fend off and burst through tackles.
Culley fended off a tackler and kicked a banana goal off a step from 45 metres out, which concluded the match simulation in stylish fashion.
Jefferson, Ricky Mentha and Kade Chandler were among the others to have impressive moments.
AFL Academy duo Darcy Szerszyn (Dandenong Stingrays, defender) and Xavier Ladbrook (Gippsland Power, utility) both took part in the drills until match simulation.
