Majak Daw still has coach Brad Scott's faith, but could be facing a stint in the VFL after he was substituted in Sunday night's win over Richmond.

 

With the Roos trailing by 35 points at half-time, Daw emerged from the changerooms wearing the red vest.

 

Despite a promising start to the game - which included a scintillating run towards goal with Matt Dea hot on his heels that ended with a behind - Daw managed just four possessions to the main break.

 

"We were six goals down, we just needed to make a change," Scott explained for Daw's substitution.

 

"We needed to restructure our forward line that was ineffective. It was a risk, but it was a risk that we had to take.

"We wanted to use Drew (Petrie) a bit more and we were a bit dysfunctional going forward.

 

"So it was a big risk, but given the game state it was one we had to take."

 

The Sudanese-born forward remains a project player at the Roos and has just 12 games under his belt.

 

But while he learns the craft, Scott won't justify squeezing Daw into the team in the short-term unless he performs.

 

Robbie Tarrant made his VFL return on Saturday, while Ben Brown and Daniel Currie are other options up forward and in the ruck.

 

"We've certainly got some options, but we'll keep looking at what's best for the team in the short term," Scott said.

 

"But as I've said repeatedly I've got real confidence in Majak in the medium-to-long term but that can't be at the expense of the short-term fortunes of the team."