MELBOURNE'S four-pronged tall forward line is turning conventional wisdom on its head.
While premier Richmond made it fashionable to go with one key target and a bevy of buzzing small forwards, the Demons are bucking the trend with their tall timber.
The rotation of Jesse Hogan, Tom McDonald, Sam Weideman and Max Gawn has paid handsome rewards in recent weeks and did so again against Gold Coast on Saturday night.
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They had plenty of service, in fact, an equal AFL record 83 inside 50s, but the tall targets offer versatility and plenty of avenues to goal.
McDonald kicked five goals and was best afield with the match up for grabs, Hogan kicked three in the final term, Gawn had 18 disposals, 41 hit-outs and a goal, while Weideman was quiet but offered good relief in the ruck.
Following the 69-point win over the Suns, Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin said after some changes to his team in the opening month, it was a forward structure he had confidence settling on.
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"They seem to be functioning well together," Goodwin said.
"They can all play deep and they can all play up the ground.
"I think that gives us flexibility in terms of how we want to structure up our forward line and flexibility in who we use in the ruck."
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Following wins over Essendon and St Kilda, Melbourne has now won three games straight and is gathering momentum.
Despite not getting reward for dominance in the opening three quarters against Gold Coast, Goodwin was rightfully delighted with the entire performance.
"We probably didn't reward ourselves early in the game, but we kept persevering, we kept getting that supply," he said.
"Eventually it opened up for us.
"The pleasing thing was we kept going for the whole game and that was something we've been working on for a few weeks."
McDonald has flourished since returning from his foot injury three weeks ago and was exceptional again.
He shoved Steven May out of the way for one of his four first-half goals and got on the end of another long chain of possessions to showcase his powerhouse running for another.
"He had a big impact deep inside 50," Goodwin said.
"That was pleasing that when we put him there that he had significant impact.
"Tom has certainly done a lot of craft over the summer on his forward play and tonight he got the rewards."