There are no concerns about ruckman Luke Jackson, who finished the match under a cloud but had suffered a corked
calf that won’t keep him sidelined for next Saturday’s Western Derby
Pearce, who was returning a month after undergoing surgery, left the ground after copping a heavy knock to his arm in the
third quarter and was substituted as a precaution, with the important key defender to undergo scans
Longmuir acknowledged the Demons had not played a genuine ruckman in Max Gawn’s absence but said it was a
“really good outline” of the football they want to play after bouncing back from a disappointing 13-point loss to Hawthorn.
“I thought that first half was as good a footy as we’ve played. We understood the injuries they’ve got, and I suppose the
holes that are in their team, but we’ve come up against that in the past and haven’t got it done,” he said.
“(Midfield coach) Joel Corey thought last week on reflection that we probably weren’t as on the front foot at stoppages
as we would like to be, so irrelevant of the team we played this week we want to be a little bit more aggressive in there.
