Melbourne will unleash ruck giant Braydon Preuss in Thursday's AFL clash with Sydney as they bid to revive their faltering season.
The 206cm Preuss has been named as one of two inclusions for the SCG clash alongside midfielder Billy Stretch.
Defensive recruit Kade Kolodjasnhij has been ruled out with delayed concussion symptoms and Alex Neal-Bullen has been omitted.
The Demons say Kolodjashnij copped an elbow to the head during last week's loss to Essendon, which consigned last season's preliminary finalists to a 0-3 start.
But in better news for the Dees, key forward Tom McDonald passed a fitness test on Wednesday after hurting his ankle during the loss to the Bombers.
Preuss made eight appearances for North Melbourne before seeking a trade at the end of last season.
Melbourne believe his addition will benefit star ruckman Max Gawn, who has been physically targeted by opposition rucks in the opening rounds.
"Max has been doing a power of work for the last few years so this allows us to use him in a variety of roles," assistant coach Troy Chaplin said.
"We're probably in a position where we don't have the luxury of making too many changes. We've got some injuries and we've got to get some form from guys in the VFL to knock on the door."
Sydney also swung two changes, naming debutant Justin McInerney and veteran midfielder Kieren Jack to replace injured duo Jarrad McVeigh and Will Hayward.
Key defenders Oscar McDonald and Sam Frost had been expected to come under selection pressure after the woeful Demons leaked 20 goals in consecutive weeks.
But coach Simon Goodwin said the entire team had to take responsibility, including a star-studded midfield that has come under fire for its lack of two-way running.
"If we defend better as a team, that's obviously going to aid them," Goodwin said.
"There's been a lot spoken about our defence and a lot of theories about why we're not defending. We're really clear as a club and a coaching group about what we need to improve, and that's going to take everyone to buy into that.
"It takes a total team approach, a total club approach to work on something like that ... we're all in this together and we're all going to get our way out of it."
