Simon Goodwin told players they were BARRED from bumping rivals before shocking hit on Bailey Smith 

Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin warned his players about avoiding big bumps on opponents before livewire Kysaiah Pickett’s high hit on Western Bulldogs Bailey Smith ended with a big suspension.

Goodwin revealed that he had spoken to the playing group in the past about avoiding opponents due to the obvious risk of suspension.

Pickett was handed a two-game suspension for the incident in which both his feet left the ground and he appeared to make contact with Smith’s head.

“I did talk to the playgroup and Kozzy [Pickett] was involved in that over the bump,” Goodwin said.

“There isn’t any element in the game that we should be bumping into, and that’s the message I gave to our playgroup, that it just puts you in a situation you don’t want to be in.

Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin has warned his players to avoid bumps that could lead to long-term suspension after Pickett was suspended for two games

“We certainly won’t be encouraging our players to punch, we want them to tackle, we want them to play tough, contentious footy, and that’s an element of the game that we need to get right.”

Goodwin said he didn’t want Pickett to change his intensity around the game, just the football action he used it in.

“I’m definitely not going to talk to him about the way he plays, I like the pressure he puts on, I like the intensity he plays with,” Goodwin said.

“We’ll try to mitigate that risk where possible – we want our players to tackle, we want to play hard, but we certainly don’t want them colliding in situations where they don’t have to collide. Kozzy knows that, he knows he’s probably wrong.

“From my perspective, I think [the bump is dead]. Our game is about tackling, I don’t think it’s necessary to punch in the game.’

Goodwin said premiership quartet Steven May, Jack Viney, Bayley Fritsch and Christian Salem were ready to be selected ahead of Friday night’s game against Brisbane at the Gabba.

“It’s great for us, they’ve had a few weeks of training and they’re ready to go. May had that calf […] Viney has really started to ramp up his burdens in recent weeks,” he said.

Pickett hit Smith head first shortly after the Bulldogs pistol kicked the ball away

Smith was flattened by quickly getting back on his feet and finished the game on Saturday

“We are confident that all those guys will be available to play and it will be a pretty strong selection headache.”

No decision had yet been made on whether Salem would play in the AFL or VFL after overcoming a pre-season thyroid problem.

“He’s certainly put in a lot of work over the past three or four weeks and we want to set him up for success,” Goodwin said.

“He’s had a huge pre-season down to his thyroid, obviously he’s had a lot of downtime in that period, but he’s put in a lot of work to get himself back into this position.”