AFL 2025: Melbourne will continue to explore idea of Jack Viney as a forward
Don't miss out on the headlines from AFL. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Melbourne will continue to explore hard-nosed midfielder Jack Viney as a forward option in the back-end of its floundering 2025 season.
Viney played his first game back from concussion and a broken hand prior to last weekend's bye.
That bye came at a good time for the Demons after losses to St Kilda, Collingwood and Port Adelaide.
Melbourne has struggled to be an offensive force at times this season, kicking more goals than points in just five matches.
But coach Goodwin sees 'scope to develop' Viney as another option closer to goal despite the left-footer's modest career goal tally (68).
'He's had one game back in the team, the first priority for Jack was to get him back in the team, he's our vice-captain and a really important player,' Goodwin said of Viney, who attended 17 centre bounces against the Power.
Coach Simon Goodwin sees 'great scope' for Jack Viney forward of the ball. Picture: Sarah Reed/AFL Photos via Getty Images
'We will continue to explore not only him as a midfielder but him as a forward. We think he's got great scope to develop in both areas.
'That's where we'll continue to put him.'
Young forward Jacob van Rooyen was recalled to the senior side after a stint in the reserves but has struggled to make waves across the past fortnight.
Goodwin said Melbourne was committed to supporting van Rooyen, who was 'in a bit of a cycle' with his form.
'He's certainly improved in some aspects of his game and he's still got a lot to work on,' he said.
'We're still working with a young key forward that's developing his game. It's competitive for spots, you look at a Matthew Jefferson who is playing really strong footy at the VFL level.
Melbourne is committed to the development of young key forward Jacob van Rooyen. Picture: Sarah Reed/AFL Photos via Getty Images
'He's certainly pressing his claims to come in. We've got some developing key forwards – they take time, they go on their own little journey about their development.
'Sometimes it's you're in, you play, you stay; sometimes you're in, you play, you go out, you learn, you grow, you get better, you come back in.
'Jacob is in a bit of that cycle right now. We're committed to making him the best player he can possibly be – he's still growing and still got things to work on.'
The congested the ladder means the Demons could slip into the bottom four with a poor loss to Gold Coast this weekend or surge as high as 10th with a strong win.
Originally published as AFL 2025: Melbourne will continue to explore playing star midfielder forward of the ball
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Perth Now
2 hours ago
- Perth Now
Demons axe flag hero and young guns as season slips
Melbourne premiership defender Jake Lever and two young guns have been axed in a bold selection call from coach Simon Goodwin. With the Demons' season all but shot - in 15th spot with just five wins - Goodwin dumped Lever, Jacob van Rooyen and Caleb Windsor for their away game against Gold Coast. Goodwin summoned a trio of emerging talent in Matthew Jefferson, Koltyn Tholstrup and Harry Sharp for Saturday afternoon's fixture. The ninth-placed Suns, seeking a win to return to the top eight, replaced Nick Holman with Alex Sexton. Sydney summoned battle-hardened duo Jake Lloyd and Ollie Florent for their season-shaping clash against the Western Bulldogs. Lloyd and Florent return as the Swans press to make further inroads - they're 11th, two wins shy of the eighth-placed Bulldogs. Sydney lost forward Joel Amartey to an undisclosed injury, a week after the wayward forward booted 0.6 in a 19-point win over Port Adelaide. Swans coach Dean Cox also dropped Riley Bice for the Friday night SCG encounter against the Dogs, who made two changes to the team that thumped Richmond by 79 points last Sunday. Midfielder Adam Treloar will miss at least six weeks because of another calf tear and rookie Josh Dolan has been dropped, replaced by stalwart Jason Johannisen and Ryley Sanders. Ladder leaders Collingwood named 19-year-old key forward Charlie West for his AFL debut against lowly West Coast on Saturday night. South Australian West, pick 50 at last year's national draft, joins Charlie Dean in the Magpies side, replacing injured duo Billy Frampton and Beau McCreery. Hawthorn dropped Henry Huswaite for their danger game against North Melbourne, with Cameron Mackenzie returning for Saturday afternoon's encounter in Launceston. The Kangaroos, fresh from a plucky 11-point win over Carlton, called on Will Dawson to replace Charlie Comben.
The Advertiser
2 hours ago
- The Advertiser
Demons axe flag hero and young guns as season slips
Melbourne premiership defender Jake Lever and two young guns have been axed in a bold selection call from coach Simon Goodwin. With the Demons' season all but shot - in 15th spot with just five wins - Goodwin dumped Lever, Jacob van Rooyen and Caleb Windsor for their away game against Gold Coast. Goodwin summoned a trio of emerging talent in Matthew Jefferson, Koltyn Tholstrup and Harry Sharp for Saturday afternoon's fixture. The ninth-placed Suns, seeking a win to return to the top eight, replaced Nick Holman with Alex Sexton. Sydney summoned battle-hardened duo Jake Lloyd and Ollie Florent for their season-shaping clash against the Western Bulldogs. Lloyd and Florent return as the Swans press to make further inroads - they're 11th, two wins shy of the eighth-placed Bulldogs. Sydney lost forward Joel Amartey to an undisclosed injury, a week after the wayward forward booted 0.6 in a 19-point win over Port Adelaide. Swans coach Dean Cox also dropped Riley Bice for the Friday night SCG encounter against the Dogs, who made two changes to the team that thumped Richmond by 79 points last Sunday. Midfielder Adam Treloar will miss at least six weeks because of another calf tear and rookie Josh Dolan has been dropped, replaced by stalwart Jason Johannisen and Ryley Sanders. Ladder leaders Collingwood named 19-year-old key forward Charlie West for his AFL debut against lowly West Coast on Saturday night. South Australian West, pick 50 at last year's national draft, joins Charlie Dean in the Magpies side, replacing injured duo Billy Frampton and Beau McCreery. Hawthorn dropped Henry Huswaite for their danger game against North Melbourne, with Cameron Mackenzie returning for Saturday afternoon's encounter in Launceston. The Kangaroos, fresh from a plucky 11-point win over Carlton, called on Will Dawson to replace Charlie Comben. Melbourne premiership defender Jake Lever and two young guns have been axed in a bold selection call from coach Simon Goodwin. With the Demons' season all but shot - in 15th spot with just five wins - Goodwin dumped Lever, Jacob van Rooyen and Caleb Windsor for their away game against Gold Coast. Goodwin summoned a trio of emerging talent in Matthew Jefferson, Koltyn Tholstrup and Harry Sharp for Saturday afternoon's fixture. The ninth-placed Suns, seeking a win to return to the top eight, replaced Nick Holman with Alex Sexton. Sydney summoned battle-hardened duo Jake Lloyd and Ollie Florent for their season-shaping clash against the Western Bulldogs. Lloyd and Florent return as the Swans press to make further inroads - they're 11th, two wins shy of the eighth-placed Bulldogs. Sydney lost forward Joel Amartey to an undisclosed injury, a week after the wayward forward booted 0.6 in a 19-point win over Port Adelaide. Swans coach Dean Cox also dropped Riley Bice for the Friday night SCG encounter against the Dogs, who made two changes to the team that thumped Richmond by 79 points last Sunday. Midfielder Adam Treloar will miss at least six weeks because of another calf tear and rookie Josh Dolan has been dropped, replaced by stalwart Jason Johannisen and Ryley Sanders. Ladder leaders Collingwood named 19-year-old key forward Charlie West for his AFL debut against lowly West Coast on Saturday night. South Australian West, pick 50 at last year's national draft, joins Charlie Dean in the Magpies side, replacing injured duo Billy Frampton and Beau McCreery. Hawthorn dropped Henry Huswaite for their danger game against North Melbourne, with Cameron Mackenzie returning for Saturday afternoon's encounter in Launceston. The Kangaroos, fresh from a plucky 11-point win over Carlton, called on Will Dawson to replace Charlie Comben. Melbourne premiership defender Jake Lever and two young guns have been axed in a bold selection call from coach Simon Goodwin. With the Demons' season all but shot - in 15th spot with just five wins - Goodwin dumped Lever, Jacob van Rooyen and Caleb Windsor for their away game against Gold Coast. Goodwin summoned a trio of emerging talent in Matthew Jefferson, Koltyn Tholstrup and Harry Sharp for Saturday afternoon's fixture. The ninth-placed Suns, seeking a win to return to the top eight, replaced Nick Holman with Alex Sexton. Sydney summoned battle-hardened duo Jake Lloyd and Ollie Florent for their season-shaping clash against the Western Bulldogs. Lloyd and Florent return as the Swans press to make further inroads - they're 11th, two wins shy of the eighth-placed Bulldogs. Sydney lost forward Joel Amartey to an undisclosed injury, a week after the wayward forward booted 0.6 in a 19-point win over Port Adelaide. Swans coach Dean Cox also dropped Riley Bice for the Friday night SCG encounter against the Dogs, who made two changes to the team that thumped Richmond by 79 points last Sunday. Midfielder Adam Treloar will miss at least six weeks because of another calf tear and rookie Josh Dolan has been dropped, replaced by stalwart Jason Johannisen and Ryley Sanders. Ladder leaders Collingwood named 19-year-old key forward Charlie West for his AFL debut against lowly West Coast on Saturday night. South Australian West, pick 50 at last year's national draft, joins Charlie Dean in the Magpies side, replacing injured duo Billy Frampton and Beau McCreery. Hawthorn dropped Henry Huswaite for their danger game against North Melbourne, with Cameron Mackenzie returning for Saturday afternoon's encounter in Launceston. The Kangaroos, fresh from a plucky 11-point win over Carlton, called on Will Dawson to replace Charlie Comben.
Courier-Mail
2 hours ago
- Courier-Mail
AFL 2025: North Melbourne's Jack Darling to be given every chance to play
Don't miss out on the headlines from AFL. Followed categories will be added to My News. North Melbourne could wait until an hour before the first bounce on Saturday to confirm the selection of veteran forward Jack Darling. Darling suffered an unusual cut leg from a rogue boot during the Kangaroos' 11-point win over Carlton last weekend. The new Roo played through the pain of the gruesome wound but required stitches and has been held back from training this week. North Melbourne coach Alastair Clarkson said he would name Darling before putting the forward through his paces ahead of Saturday's match against Hawthorn. 'It was obviously a pretty significant injury as it turned out (and) enormously courageous for him to come back out onto the field,' he said. 'Our docs did a great job to be able to do that and his courage to accept it could be wrapped up, get back out on the ground and contribute to our win was really important for us. Jack Darling's blood soaked sock after his leg was opened up. 'Needless to say he's had that stitched up and hasn't been able to do much training yet. Because of the stitches he's unable to get it too moist with sweating and stuff. 'He'll be a test, we'll select him tonight to play and hope that he gets up, but that decision might be made an hour before the game … he gives himself a chance to play but we won't know until an hour before the game, more than likely.' Darling has kicked 13 goals over 14 games in his debut season at North Melbourne after 532 in 298 at West Coast. Clarkson said the 33-year-old was eager to play and his fitness would come down to movement and expert advice. 'Yeah, yeah he wants to play, he said that right from the get-go even before he got it stitched up last week,' he said. 'We will wait and see what his function is like and more importantly whether the surgeon and the docs think him doing too much exercise or getting a knock on it might have the stitches bust. 'We need to be mindful of that. He might play with some sort of guard if he does play, but we will cross that on Saturday morning.' North Melbourne defender Jackson Archer had a hamstring scare in the VFL and will also be put through a fitness test. The Kangaroos, with four wins, are chasing their best season since 2019 when they tackle Hawthorn in Tasmania. Originally published as AFL 2025: North Melbourne coach Alastair Clarkson to give forward Jack Darling every chance to play
