Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin has defended his decision not to pick ruck option Tom Fullarton for his team's embarrassing 50-point loss to Fremantle on Sunday.
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With Max Gawn still sidelined by an ankle injury, Goodwin opted against handing former Lions big man Fullarton his Demons debut for the match-up against Fremantle ruck duo Sean Darcy and Luke Jackson.
The tactic of going with makeshift duo Harrison Petty and Jacob van Rooyen in the ruck worked in a 17-point win over Essendon a week earlier.
But against Fremantle, the Demons were simply embarrassed in the hit-out and clearance battle.
Melbourne tallied just three clearances in the first half - the lowest ever tally for an opening half since Champion Data started collecting the stat in 1999.
Fremantle won the clearances 47-15 and the hit-outs 47-9 as Darcy (34 hitouts and eight clearances), Andrew Brayshaw (41 disposals, four clearances), Caleb Serong (36 disposals, six clearances, one goal) and Hayden Young (28 disposals, eight clearances) ran riot.
Fullarton only tallied five hitouts in the VFL last week, but he racked up 30 in the game before that.
The 25-year-old was recruited to the Demons at the end of last year as ruck depth, but Goodwin defended his decision not to pick the 200cm ruck-forward against Fremantle.
"Tom's really working hard on his craft and he's got things to work on his game, but he's not going to win hit outs," Goodwin said.
"He hasn't been able to do that at VFL level.
"So we went with a player and a group (against Fremantle) that we thought could compete as strong as anything at ground level but also give us something around the ground.
"And to their credit, bits and pieces throughout the day they were able to do that.
"But the hit-out game wasn't something we were going to win no matter who we picked."
Melbourne's second heavy defeat to Fremantle this season - following on from their 92-point loss in Alice Springs seven weeks ago - left the Demons in 10th place with a 10-8 record.
But in a much-needed dose of good news, Goodwin confirmed Gawn will be ready to return in Saturday night's clash with GWS.
"He'll play. He was very close (to being selected against Fremantle)," Goodwin said.
"He got through our main training session but he just wasn't quite where we wanted him to be, and we didn't want to take a risk.
"It's an important time of the year and we want to make sure he's really healthy."
After facing the Giants, Melbourne take on the Bulldogs, Port, Gold Coast and Collingwood in a tricky run home.
Australian Associated Press
