BRENDAN McCartney says Melbourne’s season opener against St Kilda at Etihad Stadium on Saturday will be a great opportunity for the team to show its wares from a “really positive pre-season”.

The player/coach performance manager said the squad had trained a high level mentally and physically over the summer. 

“They’ve been able to deal with more work and train at a higher intensity – at what we call threshold running, which enables you to get around the ground more,” he told Melbourne TV.

“Part of your development is to play as often as you can in high pressure situations.

“You still only get four points for one game, but some games carry a bigger weight of expectation and a higher level of scrutiny, and that’s part and parcel of the game.”

McCartney added that the clash against the Saints was a great first-up test.  

“The start of the season is one of 22 games where four points are available, which we want to get our fair share of. It’s also an opportunity to put on display [our game] against really good opposition under high pressure,” he said.

“[We want to show] what we’ve developed and worked on over the summer.”