BACKLINE coach Jade Rawlings says the players are champing at the bit to get started ahead of Melbourne’s first NAB Challenge match against Port Adelaide at Playford Alive Oval on Saturday.

Speaking to Dee TV, Rawlings said Saturday’s game would be a good opportunity to put the players to the test after a positive pre-season.

“We’ve ticked all of the boxes that we’re after [this pre-season],” he said.

“We had a pretty clear mandate on what we wanted to achieve throughout the summer from a footy perspective as well as a conditioning [perspective].

“We’ve certainly improved on all the areas we set out to and we’ve got a real high percentage of the list who will be able to do a high percentage of the work so it puts us into a position to be able to absorb the rigors of an AFL season.”

Rawlings said while it is easy to be “bullish” at this time of year, the coaches have so far been impressed with the mix of players who have stepped up over the pre-season.

“I think a number of players who have been on the outer from a selection perspective like Jack Grimes and Matt Jones [have] really made massive improvements in their game over the summer.

“Someone like a Jayden Hunt has come along in leaps and bounds; Josh Wagner as a rookie has shown he can really play; [Clayton] Oliver has impressed us [the coaches] with what he can do.

“I think [Angus] Brayshaw is starting to step forward; forward Sam Frost has started to really show lots of improvement; I think [Jesse] Hogan has taken the way he prepares to play and [the] attention to detail in his game to another level.

With Saturday marking Simon Goodwin’s first turn in charge, Rawlings said it made sense to hand Melbourne’s future coach the reins for the NAB Challenge campaign.

“He [Goodwin] is a pretty cool customer so it’s just another step in his natural progression of being our future senior coach.

“We work pretty closely together between Roosy [Paul Roos], Simon, Ben Mathews and myself so it’s a group that worked together a fair bit already so it shouldn’t be too different this week.”

In terms of what to expect from Goodwin in the coaches box, Rawlings singled out his strong ability to communicate with the playing group.

“He [Goodwin] is quite demanding on what he expects and he has been very consistent from the day he walked in about what he does demand from players in certain phases of the game so he’ll be strong on that.

“He’s a very good communicator and he’ll be getting around to the appropriate players at the right time to reinforce or encourage the things that have happened throughout the game.

“In my opinion, he’s got the right level of urgency and intensity but marries that with a good composure as well.”