MELBOURNE coach Paul Roos has put his players on notice after their second-half fadeout against Greater Western Sydney, but he doesn't expect to make wholesale changes for Saturday's clash against ladder-leaders Adelaide.
After leading by 27 points at half-time, the Demons conceded 13 unanswered goals – including nine in the third term – to fall to the Giants by 45 points in Canberra.
"We haven't picked the team (for this week) but we certainly won't be making wholesale changes," Roos said on Monday.
However, he said strong performances from experienced hands Jack Grimes (30 disposals, one goal) and Matt Jones (29 touches), as well as Jimmy Toumpas (29 touches, two goals) and Viv Michie (25, three majors), in a VFL practice match for Casey had been noted.
Roos added the standout performances from Grimes, Jones, Toumpas and Michie emphasised Melbourne's improved depth.
"It's not something we've had here before and hopefully it puts some guys on notice," Roos said.
"We felt the week before (against Gold Coast) we had 21, 22 good players.
"We won't crucify anyone on the back of one bad performance but you certainly start talking about them (players who perform at VFL level). Where can they play? How can they help us?
"It's really important that they've played well and we acknowledge that and we make sure that the players playing have to keep performing."
We just don't have the talent, says Roos
The 1-1 Demons meet the 2-0 Crows at Adelaide Oval on Saturday afternoon.
Roos has been far from surprised by Adelaide's hot start to the 2015 season.
Under new coach Phil Walsh, the Crows are at the top of the pack with a percentage of 182.5 after thumping wins against North Melbourne and Collingwood.
"Three years ago (2012) they made a preliminary final, so they've got a lot of talent there," Roos said.
"They've been a consistently good team for a long period of time."
The Melbourne coach is also mindful of nullifying Taylor Walker's impact. The Crows skipper has booted eight goals in two games to lead an attack that is No.1 in the AFL for points scored.
"We need to play good team defence to stop Adelaide from getting the ball lace-out to Walker, so that's going to be a big focus for us," Roos said.
"Tom McDonald has been in pretty good form but the only way we can help Tom is making sure it's harder for Adelaide to bring the ball forward."
Roos added the Demons' three-point triumph over the Crows in round seven last season would give his side a great deal of confidence.
"It's certainly not a negative experience, given we won once there and we played Port to within a goal (three points in round 18)," Roos said.
"We know it's going to be hard game because they're 2-0 and they're playing some really good football.
"Our players seem to play well at the ground, which is a positive, but we're playing a really good team this week."
