MELBOURNE is set to head to the Sunshine Coast for the third consecutive year, as it embarks on an 11-day pre-season training camp.

Elite performance manager Dave Misson said the camp was a great opportunity to put in some big sessions in the lead-up to the JLT Community Series.


Angus Brayshaw and Tomas Bugg don't hold back during the 2016 Sunshine Coast camp (Matthew Goodrope)

“It’s a camp very close to the pre-season games, so there will be a huge football focus,” he told Melbourne TV.

“We’re looking to do three really big footy sessions up there and then around that we’ll build some craft work, some weights and extra conditioning.

“The focus of that camp is to train in the heat and to get the benefits of that, and to build some good football volume.

“We’ll come back from there and the week after that, we’ll play the Bulldogs at the Whitten Oval.”

Misson said there had been genuine benefits from the camp in the past two years.

“The facilities up there are fantastic and we’ve got three really good grounds, so we get to do some great football sessions,” he said.

“The rehabbers get to train on their own ground, so they’ve got a lot of room to do their own work. We’ve found a couple of good gyms up there, so we’re not compromising our strength program.

“More importantly, it’s the environment [that’s beneficial]. The players live in shared accommodation. They cook for themselves and fend for themselves and there is some good bonding.

“It’s a really good way to set us up for the season, spending nine days together on field and off field … and it’s to set us up for March and April.”

Misson said the later timing for this year’s camp was better for all concerned.

“Last year, when we got back from Maroochydore, we found we had two and a half weeks where we were ready to play as soon as we got back. We were almost treading on water a little bit for two weeks last year,” he said.

“I think now with the timing of it, we come back and we just do a session on Collingwood’s ground on the 10^th and then the week after that, we’re into games.

“It’s pretty good timing and there is going to be some pretty good volume leading into the JLT Series and then we’re away.”