ASSISTANT coach Jade Rawlings says Melbourne has had a specific week on the training track, given it’s in the latter stage of the season, coming off a six-day break and taking on flag favourites Hawthorn at the MCG on Saturday.

Rawlings said it was important to sharpen the focus at this stage of the year. 

“It’s a short break this week, so training reflects that,” he told Melbourne TV.  

“It’s been a standard week and we reviewed [the Gold Coast win] the way we usually do after a Sunday game.

“We had a light training [on Thursday], which was very specific.”

Rawlings said the team was determined to finish off the season in the strongest possible manner.

“A win is what we’ll be hoping for [this round against Hawthorn]. We got the opportunity to play them earlier in the year in round 11 and it was a good contest,” he said.

“They were just too good for us in the end and a fair bit has happened between now and then, but we see it as a great opportunity to measure ourselves against the best team going around.

“Every week is a critical test for us, in our stage of development. It’s round 20, we’re playing the Hawks at the ‘G, so it doesn’t get much better on a Saturday afternoon, so that’s the opportunity that presents for us.”