Melbourne coach Steven King believes Kysaiah Pickett is only "scratching the surface" of his potential despite the Demons dynamo's transformation into a genuine AFL superstar.
Mostly a damaging small forward who would spend cameos in the midfield early in his career, Pickett has spent far more time in the centre during King's first season in charge of the Demons.
The 25-year-old is coming off scintillating back-to-back best-on-ground performances in wins over Collingwood (28 possessions and three goals) and Essendon (32 and three).
Pickett is just one away from matching his career-best for clearances in a season (66), an indication of the added time spent in the midfield.
"He's definitely a top-five player in the competition," King said of Pickett on Tuesday.
"When he's at his best, in that form, he's the complete player.
"We're clearly at a point where we've won more games than we've lost, and he's been prominent in all of those wins.
"I'd imagine he'd capture the umpire's attention ... I mean everyone that goes to watch him can't take their eyes off him.
"He's been influential in our wins, but he's still just scratching the surface of evolving to be that complete player.
"There's still heaps of scope for him to improve and evolve even more, which is super exciting."
King has praised the influence of former Melbourne champion and current Demons assistant coach Nathan Jones on Pickett.
"Nathan Jones does a great job coaching him hard, demanding excellence from him," King said.
"If you want to be a full-time mid, there's certain requirements that you need to take on board as well.
"To see him not only kick goals up in that front half but get back to help mop up and defend that (defensive) 50, that's been the growth."
Pickett has been excelling and on track for a second All-Australian honour, while sometimes spending large parts of the week before a game in Darwin.
He has been commuting to see his young daughter, who is now based in the Northern Territory capital.
"You need to respect everyone's situation for what it is, and how can you work with your people to value their private lives," King said of the unique arrangement with Pickett.
"What looks right for Kozzy might be different for the next player.
"You just need to be flexible and adaptive to what each individual requires, so it's not one size fits all.
"We need to accept that everyone's got different things going on, and how can we make both world's co-exist."
King confirmed swingman Harrison Petty would miss Saturday's clash with the Crows at Adelaide Oval due to a minor hamstring injury.
The fourth-placed Demons (9-5) have a perfect 8-0 record at the MCG this year, but are yet to win a match outside of Victoria.
