Fritsch to return as electric Pickett prepares for Dees debut

Melbourne coach Steven King insists Bayley Fritsch will play in the club’s season opener against St Kilda on Sunday.

The 288-goal forward recently suffered a dog bite which required surgery after it became infected, initially putting his Round 1 in doubt.

But King says he will have premiership forward Fritsch at his disposal in his first offical game as Demons coach this weekend.

“He’s good to go,” King said on SEN Breakfast.

“They were his mother-in-law’s dogs. He got in between them and a feed and got his hand nicked.

“He was lucky it missed a joint and didn’t get (too) infected. He’ll be right to go.”

Joining Fritsch at the MCG on Sunday will be Jai Culley who fractured his arm in February.

The 23-year-old former Eagle was burning up the track during pre-season and will get the chance to add to his tally of four Dees games.

“He’s a good chance. He’s trained fully for a couple of weeks,” King said of Culley.

“He probably could have played our last practice match. He’s done full contact now for two weeks so he’s another one who is in the frame.

“He’s a great summer. He’s been one that has consistently stood up and made a real stance in terms of where he’s at to put his name up now to be a starter for us.”

There could also be a Dees debutant joining the pair in the form of Latrelle Pickett.

The cousin of Kozzie has impressed in his first AFL pre-season after he was selected with Pick 12 in last year’s draft.

“He’ll be pushing. He’s had a pretty consistent summer,” King said of the young gun.

“Being a year older than most draftees, he brings a bit of electricity and speed.

“We’ve got a couple of main sessions to get through this week so I don’t want to jump the gun too early in terms of selection.

“But he’s put his name up there with a consistent performance over summer.”

King, a former Gold Coast and Geelong assistant, is implementing a new style and game plan which he hopes the Dees faithful will latch onto fairly rapidly.

“You’re going to see a different looking Melbourne with the way we play and take the game on,” added King.

“We’ll certainly try to challenge teams in a different way than Melbourne have in the past.

“Obviously we want to win every game we play, but we want to play a brand of footy that stacks up and that people love to come and watch.

“It’s fun and exciting and it’s entertaining. We’d love for every Melbourne supporter to make the commitment and jump on to be a member.

“We want to get that membership base back up over 65,000, that’d be awesome. Come along on the journey with us. It’s going to be an exciting time.”

The Demons host the Saints at the ‘G from 3:15pm AEDT in Round 1 this Sunday.