Melbourne coach Steven King has mixed feelings about his team taking on a Gold Coast Suns side missing former Demons star Christian Petracca on Sunday at the MCG.<\/p>\n
Petracca left the Demons at the end of last season after 11 years at the club to join the Suns.<\/p>\n
The 30-year-old midfielder starred for Gold Coast in the club\u2019s opening two games of the season before suffering a hamstring injury in his team\u2019s 68-point win over Richmond on March 21.<\/p>\n
It means Petracca will miss out on the chance to take on his ex-teammates this weekend.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s pretty handy out for us (with) him not being there,\u201d King admitted on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
However, there is part of King that would have liked Petracca to have played on Sunday.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor our supporters, even as a footy club, we would have loved to have got him back at the MCG, just to recognise everything he\u2019s done for us as a footy club and the career he had with us,\u201d the Demons mentor said.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven for some of our young players, it would have been a great opportunity to play against him, although they would have seen him up close at training.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was in career best form there (the Suns) for the first couple of weeks (of the season). <\/p>\n
\u201cYou do want to play the best players and teams at their strongest.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, even without Petracca, the in-form Suns \u2013 one of only two teams still with a perfect record this season \u2013 will be a tough nut for Melbourne to crack.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re on fire at the moment,\u201d said King, who was in charge of the Suns for seven games in 2023 following Stuart Dew\u2019s sacking.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re playing great footy. You can see their system is well embedded, they\u2019ve got great talent \u2013 they\u2019re the benchmark of the competition at the moment. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ve got a great system and are really well coached, and that\u2019s three years in the making, but they\u2019ve got elite talent, a great athletic profile \u2013 they\u2019ve got strengths all over the ground.\u201d<\/p>\n
Those \u201cstrengths\u201d include full-forward Ben King, whom the Melbourne coach described as being the most \u201cefficient footballer in the country\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s unique athlete \u2013 202cm and lightning quick. He\u2019s in great form, so we\u2019re going to have to make sure we get that match-up right,\u201d Steven King said.<\/p>\n
The Demons are chasing back-to-back wins after last Sunday\u2019s 23-point victory over Carlton.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was really proud of the way the boys stood up when the game was on the line,\u201d said King, whose side at one stage trailed the Blues by 43 points.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re certainly going to have to start better (against the Suns).\u201d<\/p>\n