White must fight for spot now: Bailey

MELBOURNE coach Dean Bailey says long-serving ruckman Jeff White will have to fight his way back into the senior side, after the 2004 Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Trophy winner was omitted from the team for the first time since debuting with the club in 1998.

White did not play in Melbourne's stunning one-point win over the Brisbane Lions at the MCG on Sunday, as the Demons opted to play just Mark Jamar and ruckman/forward Paul Johnson.

Bailey was adamant White fighting his way back into the 22 was a positive for the club.

"Yep, fight for the position is good. You need that internal pressure so that when players get games it's because they've earned it, rather than just go back and play a game and then come back in, but his form will determine how well he plays," Bailey said.

"Obviously today we've won and we'll examine the game of Jamar closely over the next couple of days and I'm not sure how Jeff went [for Sandringham], but he's a professional Jeff White and he ticks lots of boxes and he prepares as well as anyone I've seen.

"So I'd have been surprised if he didn't play well today."

Bailey said the decision to leave out White also put the microscope on Jamar.

"To be fair to Jeff and Mark Jamar, their form hasn't been what you'd say is good, it's been just bubbling along between just average or below average," Bailey said.

"It got to a stage where we decided as a match committee that maybe it's time for Mark Jamar to actually have … the pressure of everything to be put on his shoulders and let's see what we've got … it was good for 'Russian' to take responsibility on.

"Jeff's been a great player and he's still [got] eight weeks to go, so there is no reason why his form can't be at a level where he'll force his way back into the team and 'Russian' knew that there was a lot of pressure on today to perform.

"When you look at the tape, he was probably good, but we want our ruckmen to be competitive all of the time."

Bailey said it was important players such as Jamar and some of Melbourne's younger brigade stood up in the absence of experienced players including White, Russell Robertson and the now retired David Neitz.

"Without those players there 'Robbo', David and Jeff – great experience and great players – and now they look around the room and they go: 'Well, it's up to us now'," Bailey said.

"We've got to put our best foot forward because we're now being examined like those guys have been and always will be."

Bailey highlighted midfielder Brock McLean as one player who stood up in the absence of some senior players. 

"Brock McLean runs around with one and a half legs today, he had a bad ankle injury and he just demanded that he play and we had to get him up and you watch him running around, he wasn't 100 per cent, but twice, on two occasions, he just dived full length onto the footy, which he should never ever have won," Bailey said.

"But a couple of those acts from Brock today would suggest … some of those young blokes enjoyed the leadership or enjoyed the pressure that was on them, without the guys that were normally there."