Tall timber works for Demons in AFL win

Melbourne used an unconventional set up of four talls in attack during their comprehensive AFL win over St Kilda at Etihad Stadium.

Height plus mobility has proved a powerful forward line equation in Melbourne's AFL win over St Kilda.

Apart from key forward Jesse Hogan and tall utility Tom McDonald, the Demons also used star ruckman Max Gawn and his offsider Sam Weideman regularly in attack during Sunday's 16.10 (106) to 9.13 (67) at Etihad Stadium.

The unconventional set-up tested the Saints defence.

There was also a lot more to the strategy than using four big marking options.

As he has done all season, Hogan spent plenty of time further up the ground and McDonald also was as mobile as possible.

"We wanted to really trial that ... having all those guys function together is really important for us," coach Simon Goodwin said.

"Jesse can play not only as a tall, but a small and Tom is similar in his ability to move around the ground.

"So it's given us some options ... we're starting to function well as a team doing that.

"We'll continue to do that as long as they can provide the inside 50 pressure we're looking for."

Premiers Richmond famously have gone the other way, with Jack Riewoldt their only key forward and a marauding pack of small forwards around him.

As concerns grow about low scoring in the AFL, Richmond are defying the trend and have averaged more than 100 points a game.

Going against the convention of two tall forwards and maybe one resting ruckman is also working for the Demons.

While Hogan was among Melbourne's best with three goals, he will come under video scrutiny for a third-quarter incident.

He could be in trouble for staging after receiving a dubious free kick close to goal.

Apart from the unwelcome scrutiny for the free, Hogan also missed the easy set shot.


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Source: AAP

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