AFL round 7 Melbourne v Richmond: Live scores, updates, SuperCoach scores
Melbourne defender Tom McDonald said the coaches classed Kysaiah Pickett's matchwinning display against Fremantle last weekend in 'Gary Ablett territory'.
Pickett kicked five goals and collected 24 disposals to steer the Demons away from a disastrous 0-6 start to the season.
The four-goal first half already prompted four-time premiership star Isaac Smith to declare the 23-year-old the closest player he had seen to champion Cyril Rioli on matchday radio.
But Melbourne coaches and McDonald went further, linking Pickett's virtuoso performance to the little master from Geelong.
'We get our games rated out of seven and I think the coaches then do the same, (Pickett) was the first in a long time to get a seven out of seven,' McDonald said.
'Normally that's Gary Ablett (Jnr) territory where you have 40 (disposals) and kick four (goals).
'He was spectacular, (it was) awesome to see him do it and see him have fun out there too.'
Pickett sparkling afternoon ultimately downed the side reportedly trying to lure him via trade at season's end.
McDonald fended off questions about Pickett's future, insisting contract talk was always off the table among players.
'Never spoken about by the players, in any of those situations where the players are uncontracted, guys aren't going around talking about 'is he going to leave?'' he said.
'He's a quiet guy, he keeps to himself a lot, the way he stands out is his fashion, he comes in every day looking good, I come in in my baggy trackies and oversized T-shirt.'
The pressure on the Demons eased for at least one week after they claimed their first win, and they have a chance to improve to two wins with Richmond in the annual Anzac Eve blockbuster on Thursday.
McDonald said he had faith things would turn for the Demons after showing strong improvement on the track in recent weeks.
'I guess because we haven't been scoring and we scored early, a little bit of confidence gets going,' he said.
'Our training weeks had been really solid but it hadn't transferred into the weekend and last week was probably our best week of training and preparing and that transferred into the game.
'We had a short and sharp session yesterday, it's a tough week this week to do much training, hopefully we can translate that form into tomorrow night.'
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