CHRISTIAN Petracca would happily welcome Brodie Grundy back into the fold as Melbourne seek a solution to their attacking woes in a cut-throat semi-final against Carlton.

But the star midfielder is wary of shifting Max Gawn forward to accommodate fellow ruckman Grundy's return, declaring the captain's stoppage work critical to the Demons' chances at the MCG on Friday night.

The selection door is open for Grundy - who has been working at VFL level on his forward craft - after Jacob van Rooyen was hit with a one-match suspension for striking.

The Demons are considering challenging the ban at the Tribunal.

"What (Gawn) is doing in the midfield and as a ruck is pretty special at the moment," Petracca said on Sunday.

"His game on the weekend was just incredible ... we were pretty good in the clearances and around the ground in stoppages.

"Personally, I'd probably keep Max as a sole ruck."

Gawn has relished the full-time ruck role since his tag-team partnership with Grundy was shelved in July, with the pair playing just one match together since round 17.

That was a month ago, when Melbourne lost to Carlton by four points.

Gawn and Grundy combined to give the Demons a 59-29 advantage in hit-outs that night against Blues pair Marc Pittonet and Tom De Koning.

"I don't really care who gets picked as long as the best 22 are fit to play and want to compete," Petracca said.

"Brodie's been an amazing person throughout this past five or six weeks.

"It's been difficult for him, as it would be for anyone, but his character has been amazing and he's such a resilient person."

Melbourne recalled Tom McDonald in place of injured teammate Jake Melksham for last Thursday's qualifying final against Collingwood as the Dees managed just seven goals from 69 forward entries.

The far more efficient Magpies won by seven points, kicking nine goals from 37 entries.

"We won the inside 50 count but I don't think that was a true reflection of the game," Petracca said. "You've got to look at quality over quantity, I think. Some of our efficiency wasn't great.

"Us midfielders need to get better at delivering the ball inside-50 better rather than just blazing away and putting it on their heads.

"But also, it's finals footy. I watched a lot of the games this week and a lot of it was kick the ball forward, chaos-type footy.

"Every team in the top eight plays really good defence, so it's not going to be perfect and pretty football like you see during the year."

Carlton have won 10 of their past 11 games but also have forward-line issues to overcome, with Harry McKay (concussion) unavailable and Jack Martin set to challenge a two-match ban for striking.

"They're a very good team and they play a great contested style of footy," Petracca said.

"They've got a great coach (Michael Voss) who understands finals games and they're led by their skipper (Patrick) Cripps, who is an absolute bull.

"It's going to be a tough game, no doubt about it, but we're really looking forward to the challenge."