The selection headaches continue at Melbourne as the rampaging reigning AFL premiers prepare to bring back Jake Lever and Jack Viney.
The premiership stars missed Sunday night's 22-point win against Richmond at the MCG after entering the league's coronavirus protocols.
Lever and Viney were replaced by Joel Smith and former St Kilda midfielder Jack Dunstan.
The Demons, who are on a 13-game winning streak dating back to round-20 last year, also had the luxury of leaving out premiership forward Tom McDonald.
Key forward Sam Weideman, who could not force his way into the team in the back half of last year's run to the premiership, again impressed with a game-high three goals against the Tigers.
"Sam kicked his three, impacted the game when he needed to impact it," Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin said.
"I thought the forwards functioned well because we had a pretty dominant time in half game, which is credit to the guys' pressure down there.
"Sam's done a great job, he's worked really hard to get his hame into great shape.
"Luke Dunstan's first game, that's why he came to our footy club; we wanted to get another inside player that could come in at any stage and grab his opportunity."
McDonald responded to his axing in positive fashion, kicking three goals in the Demons' VFL win.
"He's got some really simple focuses Tom, he's certainly not out of form, he wasn't quite at his best," Goodwin said.
"I think he started to move a lot closer to playing his best footy, I was actually really proud of how he went about it."
Quality players like Adam Tomlinson and Jake Melksham are also in the VFL, and premiership defenders Michael Hibberd and Christian Salem are injured, highlighting the depth at the Demons.
Melbourne will look to go 7-0 when they face improving Hawthorn at the MCG next Saturday.
