MELBOURNE is considering adding former Richmond and Fremantle midfielder Reece Conca to its COVID top-up list of 20 players ahead of Monday afternoon's deadline. 

Conca joined the Demons at the end of last season as the club's player development manager, after calling time on an 11-season, 150-game career with the Tigers and Dockers. 

The Demons have already added former Essendon club champion David Zaharakis, retired GWS utility Sam Reid and ex-Saint Jack Lonie  to their VFL list, ensuring they have players with significant AFL experience ready to step up in the event of a COVID outbreak sidelining a large chunk of the Dees' AFL-listed players.

Former Western Bulldog Lukas Webb will be among Essendon's COVID contingency top-ups and the Giants will add ruck assistant coach Shane Mumford to its VFL list in case of emergency.

The AFL last week revealed that all clubs can nominate a list of 20 players they can call on as replacements if they fall below 28 available players at least in part due to COVID isolation requirements. 

Melbourne's general manager of football performance, Alan Richardson, said Conca's likely addition to the top-up list would help give the club cover for interstate trips.  

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"Reece is our runner, he understands our method, he's our player development manager, so that's his main job, but ... where it's probably a chance, more likely to raise its head, is if you're interstate," he told ABC Radio on Sunday. 

"If you didn't have enough time to get them over from Melbourne for your top-up list, then you're going to need to access players in Perth and that'll be co-ordinated by the AFL and Brad Scott, but someone like Reece, who's with us, is a chance to play in that unlikely circumstance."

However, Richardson hosed down the prospect of a raft of new players donning the red and blue in 2022. 

"We hope we don't get to the stage that we need to bring a COVID top-up player because it means that we've only got 28 players to pick from, and even then you need to justify why you wouldn't use one of those potentially younger 5-6 that aren't in your starting 22," he said. 

"We've got some good potential in the Casey list but there's a difference between potential and having someone that you think can come in and play a role and possibly help you win a game of footy." 

While Zaharakis is likely to play most of his 2022 football at community level, Richardson said the veteran ex-Bomber's experience made him an attractive prospect as an AFL top-up candidate. 

"We've had a look at some of those that haven't long been out of the game, like David, and that are also potentially going to be playing footy somewhere so they stay in reasonable shape, that may be able to come in and fill a hole for us for a week or two," he said.