COACH Simon Goodwin says this year’s pre-season camp was deliberately scheduled right near the start of matches.

Goodwin said the club wanted to bring the Sunshine Coast camp and intra-club/JLT Community Series closer together, before launching into the 2017 premiership season.

“We purposely planned the camp a little bit later than what we did last year to really pull our whole pre-season together,” he told Melbourne TV.

“We’re really close to games now, so there’s a level of excitement that comes with that, but also we need to tidy some things up to ensure we can hit the ground running.

“I think when you get to this stage of pre-season, it can be quite long. We didn’t play finals, so we were back a little earlier than most clubs.”

Goodwin said relocating the program to the Sunshine Coast had given the group a genuine lift on the edge of the season.

He added that the facilities were first class – including the University of the Sunshine Coast, the Maroochy Roos Football Club’s ground and the Sebel Twin Waters – which had made Melbourne’s camp a smooth one.  

“This time of year can become a bit of a grind, but just coming up here to Maroochydore has given us a real sense of energy within the group and we’re training really well,” he said.

“We’re using the University of the Sunshine Coast, which has great facilities.  

“The players do their weights, education, craft and a number of other things there, so it’s been a different feel again to the camp to the ones we’ve had in the past and the players have really enjoyed it.”