MELBOURNE coach Simon Goodwin faces a selection headache ahead of Sunday's huge clash against Brisbane with forward Tom McDonald back in the mix.

After tinkering with their forward structure, the Demons enjoyed success against Hawthorn with young talls Sam Weideman and Luke Jackson in the front six.

MATCH REVIEW Hawks skipper among four charged with striking

McDonald was an automatic selection before suffering an eye injury in round six, but Goodwin would not guarantee a walk-up start this weekend the 27-year-old.

"Yeah, he will (be available), from all reports his eye is coming along," Goodwin said of McDonald on radio station SEN.

THE LADDER Where is your team sitting?

"He did a session on Sunday in Sydney, obviously non-contact, but he'll train fully on Thursday and be available on selection."

When asked whether McDonald was an 'automatic' selection, Goodwin response was not definitive.

"I think we're still finding our best mix is and we'll continue to look at how we function," Goodwin said.

"He's (McDonald) no different to any other player, we'll pick the team that's in form."

Melbourne's forward line finally fired against Hawthorn, with the Demons taking 15 marks inside 50 to a paltry five for the Hawks.

Weideman took five of those marks inside the arc himself and, while Jackson couldn't quite clunk the ball, he looked far more confident in game two after a quiet debut.

"We saw on the weekend was Sam's ability and Jacko's ability compete aerially and to bring the ball to ground and that's been a big lift in our game," Goodwin said.

Weideman's three goals against Hawthorn were a real positive, which had some Melbourne fans questioning why he had not been picked in the team earlier.

"Sam's form probably wasn't to the level in the games that we played, in the trial games," Goodwin said.

Coming up against a Harris Andrews-led backline this week, Melbourne must get their structure right if they have any chance of upsetting the Lions.