COACH Paul Roos says there is “no doubt” that players who had built up strong form in the VFL are making a difference when called up to the AFL – as highlighted by the strong return of Jordie McKenzie and Dean Kent’s last round.

Roos said the duo and Aidan Riley to a lesser extent had all impacted after returning to the AFL.  

“The fact that guys really have to earn their spot in the team and they’ve got really good form when they come in [has been really positive],” he told Dee TV’s Roos’ Views.

“Aidan [Riley] had a bit of a quiet game [last round], but he looked comfortable. Certainly Jordie and Kenty played very, very well and I think that’s off the back of very good form. We keep reinforcing that to the guys playing for Casey. It’s super important that they play well consistently.

“Jordie was a great example for the other guys. He was out for five or six weeks and he just does well and he doesn’t complain and he keeps doing his role and all of a sudden, you come into the team. He played a really, really good game.”

Roos said no changes were likely for this Sunday’s clash against North Melbourne at the MCG, although defender Dean Terlich, speedster Sam Blease and dasher Daniel Nicholson had been added to the squad. 

“It’s hard to change a team that went so well last week, so it’s probably going to be unlikely that we’ll make changes,” he said.

“Terls was a good example. He went down and played well [in the VFL] we thought. Nicho is another one who has been playing well, week in week out. Bleasey has come into a nice patch of two or three good weeks of footy.

“[Head of development] ’Fruity’ [Brett Allison] coined the phrase of eligible for selection, so they’re the guys that are now eligible for selection. But if they miss out this week, their challenge is to keep playing well on the weekend.”

Meanwhile, Roos said he hadn’t given too much thought to any potential All-Australian Demons this year – even though the likes of Nathan Jones and Lynden Dunn have been mentioned as contenders among the football public.

“As a coach, you don’t tend to think too much about that – other than when someone asks you the question … and we don’t get to see all of the other games as well,” he said.

“But I think we’ve had some really outstanding players in the first half of the year and that’s up for other people to consider who the All-Australians are, but certainly we’ve had some very good players.”