CHRISTIAN Petracca's extended wait before his AFL debut shows Melbourne has overcome a reliance on its younger players to take them up the ladder, according to coach Paul Roos.
The No.2 pick at the 2014 NAB AFL Draft will finally be unveiled by the Demons in Saturday's clash with St Kilda at Etihad Stadium, having been forced to find form in the VFL before being selected.
The explosive midfielder missed all of last year after requiring a knee reconstruction, and his return to football was then delayed by a broken toe in January.
Match preview: Melbourne v St Kilda
While Roos expects Petracca to "make an impact" in the game, he says the club's propensity in the past to heap responsibility and pressure on young talent has lessened and that each game must now be earned.
"Internally there's an expectation, even amongst the players, that they have to earn their spots and it's probably changed the perception of our players," Roos said on Friday.
"We couldn't fit [No.4 draft pick] Clayton (Oliver) back in the team, and he's had two good games and two OK games. And Angus Brayshaw makes way for Petracca, so it is a bit of a changing philosophy because if we're playing well we're able to educate our young players in the 'seconds', which I'm a firm believer in.
"And if they play well, which Christian has, you find a way to get them in the team."
Roos said the club had misread the impact of Brayshaw's absence on the sidelines with a knee injury in the pre-season, and that he expected the second-year midfielder to spend a "block" of games in the VFL before returning to the senior team.
Melbourne's improvement so far this season comes at the start of Roos' final year in charge of the club, with the Sydney Swans premiership coach to hand over the reigns to senior assistant Simon Goodwin at the end of the year.
Roos' future beyond 2016 has again come into discussion this week, and he said he would sit down with the club's chief executive Peter Jackson and football boss Josh Mahoney later in the season to determine what next year may hold.
"I'm excited about the year. We've had some brief discussions – Josh, myself and Peter – and we're all really comfortable. We're all focused on this year and trying to get the best out of the player group," he said.
"If we sit down during the year, that's fantastic. If we don't and it's the end of the year, that's fine."
Roos, a regular traveller to Hawaii, said only a team in Waikiki could entice him to continue as a senior coach.
"Unless there's a team in Waikiki, and they're the Waikiki Whalers, then I'm happy to start a new team if Gill [McLachlan] wants to start one over there," he said.
"To be honest, it's pointless addressing the issue because my intentions are family, my intentions are to travel and that's the way I see it at the moment."
