Brodie Grundy faces a fight to break back into Melbourne's best team before the AFL finals after Max Gawn and a new-look forward line fired the Demons to a fourth straight win.
Gawn was outstanding as a solo ruckman in Sunday's 32-point victory over Richmond at the MCG, which put fourth-placed Melbourne within touching distance of a top-two spot.
Remodelled forward Harry Petty (six goals) and young gun Jacob van Rooyen (four) had career-best outings in attack, and Jake Melksham (four) was also effective.
Their impressive performances came as high-profile recruit Grundy slogged away in difficult conditions with VFL side Casey.
Gawn, who was dominant against Richmond's Ivan Soldo in the second half, has relished playing as a solo ruckman since Grundy was dropped three weeks ago.
"We'll continue to operate in that way while he's doing what he does," Demons coach Simon Goodwin said.
"But he's not young - he's a bit old, Maxy - so we'll keep looking after him as well."
Asked whether Gawn would need a week off before the finals, Goodwin said: "It's been a different year for Max.
"Last year he carried the full load for the whole year but this year he's had the support of Brodie and at times we've really loved that combination.
"We'll continue to assess that as we go forward but we're not a closed book to anything.
"At the moment, Max is playing well and the team is functioning well, and we'll do whatever is best for the team."
Former Collingwood ruckman Grundy was scoreless from 10 disposals and had 31 hit-outs in Casey's one-point defeat to Williamstown on Sunday and appears set for another week in the VFL.
"Brodie has embraced the opportunity to make this combination (with Gawn) great," Goodwin said.
"It's been good but we want to make it great, and he'll continue to do that.
"He had a really tough day at Casey. I think it was 40kmh winds down there so it wasn't the best day for a forward.
"But his attitude towards it and the impact he had in matchplay at training during the week, you can see he's improving all the time."
Melbourne take on second-from-bottom North Melbourne at Hobart's Blundstone Arena this Sunday.
