Melbourne spearhead Jesse Hogan continues to be restricted by an ankle complaint ahead of Sunday's AFL clash with Carlton at the MCG.
Hogan did not take part in Tuesday's training and was on crutches earlier in the week after rolling his ankle during the Demons' opening-round win over St Kilda.
The Demons insist Hogan and ruckman Max Gawn, who was restricted to walking laps at training, will both be available to face Carlton.
Hogan was among Melbourne's best in their impressive win over the Saints, booting three goals and winning plenty of the ball.
Former Hawthorn premiership player Jordan Lewis was also outstanding and showed he will be a valuable addition for the Demons.
With both teams looking to assert themselves as finals contenders this season, 30-year-old Lewis was a calming influence for his younger teammates after the Saints blazed away to a four-goal lead at the first break.
"I think it's just understanding you don't have to peg back the deficit in one quarter," Lewis said on Tuesday.
"It turns out that we only needed one because we played some really good football in the second quarter but I think when you panic, you tend to make mistakes that you shouldn't make.
"The leadership group as a whole was pretty good in that area. No one panicked. It was a good performance and the maturity of the group really stood out."
It's early days for the Demons, who will start heavy favourites against a rebuilding Carlton, but there is already plenty to like for new coach Simon Goodwin.
Clayton Oliver (36 disposals), Alex Neal-Bullen and Christian Petracca all stood out against St Kilda, and Lewis says there's no reason why they can't scale the heights reached by Hawthorn's midfield in recent years.
"I nearly fell over yesterday when I read that Clayton Oliver has only played 14 games," he said.
"He's come a really long way this year. He showed some signs last year but I have the confidence in him that he's going to put consistent games back to back.
"We've got a lot of kids who were drafted really early. That only gets you so far and I think what we've seen is these kids are competitive as well, which is what I like about them."
Share
