MELBOURNE coach Simon Goodwin says he was "really encouraged" by Brodie Grundy's official return to the VFL on Saturday as he continues to weigh up his side's best mix.

The Demons solidified their top-four spot with Sunday's four-point win over Adelaide as off-season recruit Grundy was absent for the second straight game, having been omitted to work on his forward-half craft with Casey in the VFL.

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In Grundy's absence with forward Jacob Van Rooyen returning to the side, Melbourne has produced its two biggest scores since beating Hawthorn on May 13, with 14.13 (97) against the Crows and 16.9 (105) last week against Brisbane.

In both games, lead ruck Max Gawn has had a significant impact, adding two goals and 38 hitouts on Sunday after a season-high 29 disposals against the Lions.

Grundy played an unofficial reserves game last weekend following his omission before featuring in Saturday's 42-point VFL win over Coburg, having 12 disposals, four marks and kicking 1.3 in a primarily forward role.

"We'll continue to assess that," Goodwin said when asked about his AFL side's forward set-up with Van Rooyen booting one goal against the Crows, while Ben Brown struggled for impact with five disposals, no goals and only two score involvements.

"We were really encouraged by what Brodie did at VFL yesterday. The patterns he was running, his impact in the game, I think he had four shots at goal. Just the exposure at VFL level, you could see he's starting to get some grasp on that forward half of the ground.

"We've started to hit the scoreboard a little bit better the last few weeks but we're not the finished product … we're still very open minded about what it looks like."

On Grundy, Goodwin added: "As I've said all along, we're not trying to turn him into a forward. We want him to have impact when he's forward, but also share those ruck duties.

"It's a very long season AFL footy and it's a very big load to carry for one person in the ruck. At times, we're going to need both of them up and going."

Goodwin hailed his side's resilience, particularly in the final term after Adelaide hit back from a 24-point three-quarter time deficit to square the game.

"I loved the way we responded," he said. "We were under enormous pressure. We've worked incredibly hard to have a group of players who are able to withstand those momentum shifts and then respond. Once again our players did it which was fantastic."

The Dees coach offered specific praise to Jack Viney (27 disposals with five centre clearances) and Kysaiah Pickett, who had 20 disposals, four tackles, two goals and a game-high 11 score involvements.

"It's a credit to 'Koz', he's worked really hard on his game in the last six to eight weeks," he said. "He's spent a little more time through the middle of the ground. He's having a huge impact forward of centre again. One thing that's never wavered with 'Kozzy' is his ability to put forward pressure on."

Goodwin added that Clayton Oliver was still "potentially two, three weeks away best case scenario" in his bid to return from a hamstring injury which he originally sustained in round 10.

Meanwhile, Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks said Izak Rankine, who had three goals and 20 touches, will miss next week's Showdown against rival Port Adelaide after leaving the game late with a left hamstring injury, joining the suspended Josh Rachele on the sidelines for the must-win game.

"He's had a hammy before and talking through it, it's similar," Nicks said. "He missed a couple last time, so fingers crossed that's not a major hammy or tendon. I'd say we'll probably lose him for a few weeks."

The result dents the Crows' fading hopes of making the top eight, slumping to 13th with an 8-10 record ahead of the Showdown against the second-placed Power.

"We're still fighting, we're still playing in relevant games, we're confident we can still win every game we go into," Nicks said.

"We've got five to go, that gets us what we're after. That's a pretty big ask, we go into a Showdown next week against a top-two side but that's what we're about. We're about taking on the game and making sure we're in the fight every week."

Nicks was "not sure" on onballer Rory Laird's availability to return for the Showdown, having missed Sunday's game with a shoulder knock, while he hailed debutant Luke Nankervis (16 disposals and six marks) along with veteran Matt Crouch (22 disposals) in his first game in the 22 since round 17 last year.