MELBOURNE captain James McDonald says top draftee pair Tom Scully and Jack Trengove's efforts in the last fortnight could see them make their debut as early as round one.

The 18-year-old midfielders, recruited with picks one and two in last year's NAB AFL Draft, featured in the Demons' NAB Cup loss to Fremantle and NAB Challenge loss to Essendon and have put themselves in a good position to play against Hawthorn on March 27.

"Their performances have been pretty good for a couple of young players that haven't had any experience at AFL level," McDonald said from the AFL and Breast Cancer Network Australia's Field of Women LIVE initiative at the MCG.

"If they keep tracking the way they are, I wouldn't be surprised if they did play round one.

"I'm not on the match committee and I'll leave it up to the coach but everything they're doing at the moment suggests they're going to be a good chance."

McDonald said that over the next few years the club would face the challenge of being patient with its crop of young players while giving them game time.

"We've got to keep pushing them. We can't keep using the tag that we're young as an excuse," he said.

"But at the weekend when we played Essendon, we had one guy who had played over 100 games and 16 or 18 under 20 games of AFL experience.

"You have to be understanding but we're still striving to get the most out of them as soon as possible."

This is the second pre-season McDonald has held the reins of Melbourne following the retirement of long-standing skipper David Neitz.

He admitted to being in a similar position to the club's young guns as he continued to find his feet in his role.

"We talk about the young guys getting games and experience, and for me, the more games I've had being captain [make] me more experienced and better equipped to handle different situations," he said.

For further information and to purchase tickets to the Field of Women LIVE match between Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs in round seven, visit www.fieldofwomenlive.org.au