KEY forward Cameron Pedersen says this season is “definitely” the most confident he feels entering an AFL season.

Speaking on day six of Melbourne’s pre-season camp at Maroochydore, Pedersen said he was determined to capitalise on his best AFL season, where he took his game to the next level and became a regular in 2014.

“[It’s the most confident I feel] in myself and body wise, but there is a lot more competition this year, with [Max] Gawn coming down forward and they’re talking about playing two rucks and Fitzy is playing and training really well,” he told melbournefc.com.au.  

“I’ve pretty much done every session. I missed one session when I was sick, but other than that, I’ve done every session.

“I had a personal best three-km time-trial when we came back last week, so I’m feeling fit and ready to go.”

Pedersen said he was relishing his camp experience and making the most of it.

“It’s been pretty solid, but we’ve had a good balance between the skills component and running component. We’ve also had a bit of fun with a few team challenges and all of the boys have been stepping up, which has been really good,” he said.

Pedersen said although he tends to “fly under the radar” it was the fittest he’d been in his career.

 “As I’m getting a bit older, we’ve got a lot of young boys coming through, so I’ve got to make sure I’m stepping up my game. I’ve just tried to come back in better nick than I have before.

“The good thing is that every spot is being challenged now, so we’ve got to keep working to improve. I’m working on clean hands and using more of an instructional voice around the ground, so I’ve got more of a presence when I’m playing.

“Last year, it was great to get a bit of continuity in my game. Now I’ve just got to follow it on through this year and hopefully I can play every game – or close to every game.”

Pedersen said he was most likely to play as a forward only in 2015, with the occasional run in the ruck. Overall, Pedersen said the vibe had been the best he had seen it since he joined the club at the end of the 2012 season.

“It’s as good as I’ve seen and with the new recruits like [Heritier] Lumumba and [Jeff] Garlett, who adds some class to the team, it’s been really good and everyone is flying at the moment.”