World News Demons won’t be ambushed by Harley Reid again: coach Blog

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Once burned, one fears the fire: The Melbourne Bridge is determined not to be outdone a second time by West Coast wunderkind Harley Reid.

Reid, the No. 1 overall draft pick, proved to be the architect of the Demons’ downfall in the Eagles’ surprise 35-point home victory in May, recording 21 possessions, seven clearances, two goals and three assists in a magical performance.

This included him fending off Christian Petracca, then jumping up three times to kick one of his biggest shots. On another play, he fended off Clayton Oliver with his left hand and Petracca with his right before deflecting the ball forward for Jack Darling to score.

The Demons (12th, 8-7) will face Reid and the Eagles (16th, 3-12) again on Sunday at the MCG.

“We will be prepared for Harley Reid this time,” coach Simon Goodwin said on Thursday.

“He showed us what he can do at a really high level last time, so there’s no doubt we’ll be ready for Harley Reid.”

“We will have some plans in place to make sure he doesn’t have the impact he did on the game last time. That’s one of our challenges for the weekend.”

“The midfield will have to react in this area this week against a top-class midfield group.”

Goodwin stressed that there were no thoughts of “revenge or retaliation”, Melbourne just wanted to get back to its best form.

“It wasn’t long ago that we played at their best against West Coast,” he said.

“Five weeks ago in Perth they dominated the game and were clearly superior to us in the middle of the pitch.

“So we know exactly what her best form looks like and we will prepare for it.”

The Demons are determined to involve their star ruckman and captain Max Gawn more in the competition this time around.

“Bailey Williams did a great job on Max last time – he touched him practically everywhere he walked on the floor,” Goodwin said.

“So that’s certainly a big part of our planning as well, where we position Max to give him the biggest impact in the game and also how we help him.”

Melbourne must also decide whether striker Jake Melksham will return via the VFL after his cruciate ligament tear or be brought straight back into the senior team.

“He played a lot of games for six or seven weeks,” Goodwin said.

“He certainly has a good chance to play at both levels, but we’ll figure out what’s best for Jake.”

Goodwin was confident that Christian Salem (knee) and Jake Bowey (back injury) would compete against West Coast, but Harrison Petty (thigh) would have to prove his fitness.

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