MELBOURNE returned to training on Monday and already football manager Josh Mahoney says the players have come back in encouraging fashion.
“All of the players returned on Monday in good shape and they all completed their programs over the break, which is important, as there is only five weeks until our first NAB Challenge game,” he told melbournefc.com.au.
“The focus for the first week on return is getting back into football training and then it’ll quickly focus on developing their game plan further.
“Roosy (Paul Roos) wants to implement it and prepare the players for round one.”
Melbourne will play its opening NAB Challenge match against Richmond at Etihad Stadium on February 14, but Mahoney said all pre-season aims were geared towards the season proper.
“We’re starting to have expectations now for players playing NAB Challenge and practice matches prior to round one, and who will be available at different stages,” he said.
“Our focus for this period will be to prepare the players for the regular season.
“If players are not ready to play in our first NAB Challenge game on February 14, they’ll be held back and start playing when they have achieved their training targets.”
Mahoney said the majority of Melbourne’s list will play in at least two matches during the NAB Challenge/practice match period.
“There is quite a long lead-in to round one. With our first NAB Challenge match on February 14 and round one not being until March 22, we have to be smart about how we utilise the players during that five week period,” he said.
“The expectation will be that players will play somewhere between two to three games in preparation for round one.
“At this stage, we haven’t got any long-term injuries, so we’d expect to have the majority of players in full training by the end of January.”
Mahoney said the Demons will also hone their tactics regarding interchange rotations in the NAB Challenge.
“We’ll also use the five week period to experiment with the capped rotations of 120 and how we’ll utilise that throughout the year,” he said.
