Tom and Oscar McDonald dropped for Melbourne Demons' mid-week AFL clash

After a heavy loss against Port Adelaide last Thursday, Melbourne swung the axe at the selection table, dropping the former Edenhope-Apsley after an "unacceptable" team performance.

Oscar, 24, had just made a return to the senior side, playing four consecutive games since returning in round six.

Tom meanwhile has booted four goals in six games.

Demons coach Simon Goodwin said Tom, 27, had been under-performing.

"He's an important player to us. He's an experienced player, but I think Tom would be disappointed with his output in recent times and we need to get him to his best," Goodwin said.

"We're really clear with our footy team - we want guys to execute their roles at a really high level.

"Unfortunately for Tom, at this stage, he hasn't been able to do that for a period of time now, so we've got to work with Tom to get him back to his best."

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Tom has struggled to recapture the form of his 2018 season, where he booted 53 in 20 games after transitioning from centre-half back to full forward.

Goodwin reaffirmed at his mid-week press conference that the club would persist with Tom as a forward.

"We see him as a forward for our footy club and that's where we'll keep him," he said.

"We're pretty clear for Tom of how we want him to play, how we need him to play. That is, like a big man, compete aerially and at ground level, and we're going to keep working with him."

Goodwin also cited dewy conditions as a reason for dropping the two key-position players.

"Those are the sort of games we're playing in at the moment," he said.

"[Three talls up forward] just didn't look like it was going to function in the right manner."

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