ELITE performance manager Dave Misson says midfielders Jack Trengove and Jimmy Toumpas have been among the top eye-catchers this pre-season.

Misson said he was pleased with the entire squad, but highlighted the duo as among the top Melbourne performers this pre-season. 

“Two midfielders – Jimmy Toumpas and Jack Trengove – have come back in really good nick,” he told melbournefc.com.au.

Misson added the likes of defender Tom McDonald, midfielder Nathan Jones and forward Jeremy Howe were “always in good shape”, and versatile tall Jack Watts had been training well with the midfielders.

“We’re really not disappointed with anyone, with how they’ve come back and the group as a whole has been training with a lot of energy,” he said.

“They’ve been working really hard and we’ll have a really good base going into Christmas, so that after Christmas, there will be a real strong focus on the footy stuff.”

Misson said the players would hit the ground running when they return on January 6.

“We’ll unload them a little bit in that first week of the Christmas break and then get them going in the second week,” he said.

“We’ve got a couple of running tests in the first couple of weeks, when we come back, but really as soon as we come back after Christmas, it’s going to be a real football focus, working on the game plan and implementing that through our training.

“We’ll also do the work in training and working specifically to how we want to play, when the games start in February.”

Misson said tall timber forward trio Mitch Clark, Chris Dawes and Jesse Hogan were all at different stages. 

“Mitch and Jesse are in full training and going really well. We’re managing their loads to an extent and they’re enjoying being with the group and doing some big sessions,” he said.

“Dawesy had an arthroscope on his knee, just before he came back [to pre-season training]. He’s been working really hard off legs and he’s very fit at the moment, from a conditioning point of view.

“It’s about getting some run in his legs over the Christmas period and then afterwards.”

New midfielders Daniel Cross, Dom Tyson, Bernie Vince and Viv Michie had also impressed Misson with their work over the pre-season. 

“[They’re going] really well. They’ve adjusted to being part of the group very well and they’ve been working hard,” he said.

“Dom has just come out of rehab. He hurt that hamstring just before he came back and he’s rehabbed very strongly. He’ll be doing his first session with the group on Friday.

“The other three guys (Cross, Vince and Michie) have essentially been in full training for the whole period and they’ve made a big difference. They’ve been very welcome additions to the group, both with their work ethic and professionalism.”

Misson said draftees Christian Salem, Jay Kennedy-Harris and Jayden Hunt have also started working their way into pre-season training.

“They’ve only done a couple of sessions with the group so far, so it’s hard to get a real gauge, but with each of them, you see different things and it gets you a little bit excited,” he said.

“But for them, it’s really about managing them, so that their first pre-season in the AFL, we’re setting them up to succeed and not fail.

“We’ll just keep managing them throughout the pre-season period.”