WITH three of its key players sidelined through injury and suspension, Melbourne are lacking in experience and could call upon players it acquired from other clubs to face Hawthorn.

At the end of last season, Melbourne Coach Mark Neeld and his recruiting team targeted a number of experienced players from other AFL clubs to step in and guide its developing team.

The Demons have one of the youngest lists in the competition, severely lacking in players of the 25-28 age bracket.

While Neeld copped much criticism at the start of the season for poor performances from the likes of Cameron Pederson (from North Melbourne) and David Rodan (from Port Adelaide), he could be forced to call upon the pair for Sunday’s match against Hawthorn.

The Hawks have an experienced list; it is a hardened team with a unique mix of youth and senior players who have all been exposed to the intensity of finals football.

Melbourne doesn’t have that luxury of a number of experienced players at its fingertips.

Luckily for Neeld, both Pederson and Rodan were impressive for VFL affiliate Casey on the weekend.

Pederson was one of Casey’s best in its 13 point win over Geelong’s VFL side.

Melbourne forward line development coach, Paul Satterley said he was one of the side’s best as he gathered 23 disposals, took 10 marks, had 12 spoils and kicked a goal from full back.

“Cam played as a key defender for the entire game, he played a similar game to the week prior,” Satterley wrote for the club website.

“Overall, his impact was very good.”

Rodan was impressive in his midfield role and could be called upon to assist Nathan Jones in the middle.

With the likes of Brad Sewell, Luke Hodge and Sam Mitchell rolling through the centre for Hawthorn, the Demons will need some hardened bodies inside if they’re to break even at the stoppages.

Rodan’s clearance and evasive skills were on show for Casey and could prove enough to gain a recall for Melbourne,

“David was busy all day and his hardness at the ball and ability to get out of congestion was very good,” Satterley said.

“He also presented to the drop of the ball both in defence and in our forward line.

“26 touches, 11 hard ball gets and 4 inside 50's was reward for effort.”

Another experiences Demon to impress at VFL level was former Lion, Joel MacDonald.

An almost forgotten player at Melbourne, MacDonald has played 123 AFL matches as a defender with the ability to play on both talls and smalls.

He gathered 20 disposals in the VFL last weekend and could be called upon to add another strong body inside defensive 50.

“Joel was really solid in defence, he had the right balance of defending hard when required and also getting into space when we had the ball,” Satterley said of his performance.

“20 disposals and 7 marks from half back was another good game from Joel.”