ADELAIDE onballer David Mackay believes his side's young ruckmen can bounce back after a disappointing performance against Geelong on Saturday night.

Cat Mark Blake dominated in the air with 27 hit-outs opposed to Ivan Maric and Kurt Tippett, who managed just 22 between them.

Maric, who was solid in the ruck in the opening three rounds, also conceded a 50m penalty at a crucial stage of the game.

Mackay said it was important to remember that Maric and Tippett had 57 games' experience combined and were still learning their craft.

"I think our ruck combination has been pretty good," he said on Tuesday. "They’re still pretty young players in there and we’re working towards them developing, getting better and better each week and having more of a presence.

"I think they’re coming along well and there are just a few little things we need to tinker with, which we worked on at training today."

Tippett has impressed with his strong marking in attack, however, Maric is under some pressure to retain the chief ruck post.

Jon Griffin followed up his good start to the season with a best-on-ground performance for SANFL club Central District on the weekend.

Mackay said Maric needed to respond to his sub-par performance when Adelaide meets Melbourne on Sunday.

"A number of guys get feedback from the coaching staff after a game and Ivan was certainly one of them on Saturday night," he said.

"Every player receives that feedback now and then. We just have to make sure that those boys act on that and whatever they were getting feedback for, that they improve that."

Utility Scott Stevens, who is still feeling the effects of a heavy collision with Fremantle’s Luke McPharlin in round three, did not train with his teammates on Tuesday.

He will need to prove his fitness at training on Thursday to be considered for a recall.

The Demons joined the winners list with a victory over Richmond and Mackay said he expected a tough contest.

"As you saw from the last round of footy, any team can beat any team on their day. We’re not taking Melbourne lightly, that’s for sure," he said.

"They had a really good win and they’ve got some good players. We’ll prepare as we normally do for a game.

"It’s pretty important that we bounce back this week and make sure we play four good quarters of football again."