Demons’ coach Goodwin bullish on Pickett signature

Shayne Hope | April 6, 2023

Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin says contract talks with Kysaiah Pickett are in a “great spot” as the AFL club welcomes back the livewire forward from suspension.

Pickett is poised to return from his two-match rough conduct ban in Sunday’s clash with West Coast, ready to resume his adaptation from small forward into midfield X-factor.

He was named as an emergency among four inclusions for the Demons, who will finalise their squad on Friday, while key forward Ben Brown is out with a back injury.

Pickett attracted strong interest from Port Adelaide last year and is off contract at the end of this season.

Melbourne are reportedly willing to offer the 21-year-old premiership speedster a long-term deal to stay at the club.

“We’ve been in constant communication with ‘Koz’ and his management team,” Goodwin told reporters on Thursday.

“He’s a pretty important player for us as a footy club and we love him, and he loves this footy club.

“We’re hopeful that it’s going to get done fairly soon. We think it’s in a great spot moving forward.

“But the most important thing for Kozzy right now is to get him back playing footy in our side.”

Goodwin said Pickett has used his two weeks on the sidelines to do extra conditioning work, with an eye towards building his tank.

“He’s got electric speed and we’ll continue to focus on that, but also his capacity to play some midfield time for us,” Goodwin said.

“We think we’ve got an opportunity to grow our game internally as a footy club, and Kozzy is a big part of that.

“He adds a different dynamic to our midfield when he’s in there … so we feel using Kozzy at times through the midfield is going to be really important to us.”

The coach said the strong form of small forwards Kyle Chandler, Charlie Spargo and Alex Neal-Bullen would give Melbourne the flexibility to continue the Pickett midfield experiment.

There is a close watch on the Demons’ tall forward mix ahead of the West Coast clash, with Brown (tight back) left out after failing a fitness test.

Jacob van Rooyen kicked three goals on debut in the win over Sydney last week, and regular defender Harry Petty played forward.

Tom McDonald impressed after being dropped to the reserves and was named in the extended squad with Adam Tomlinson, Luke Dunstan and Pickett.

Goodwin said James Harmes will miss at least one more match through personal reasons, but expects him back at the club next week.