PAUL Roos says it’s still too early to predict how Melbourne will fare in 2014, given his squad has yet to play any matches.

Although the new Melbourne coach has been pleased with what he’s seen so far, he said it was hard to know what to predict for next year. 

“[I] probably won’t know exactly until we start playing. It’s really hard when you’re just getting involved in the group. I’ve been really, really pleased with the way they’ve responded – there’s no question about that,” he told Dee TV.

“[You find out] in the heat of the battle [how your team fares] … when things start to fly around and you get a couple of goals kicked against you. Will the boys stick to the game plan? Who are the leaders? Who’s going to stand up?

“At this stage, I’ve been more than happy, but I don’t think we’re going to know enough about this group, until about the middle of next year, as to where it’s going, how quickly it can get there or whether it can get there.”

Roos said it was a “pretty critical” Christmas break for the players, as there was still plenty of work to be done away from the club. But he was optimistic the squad would return in good shape after the festive season.

“Our first test will be on the Friday when they come back and [undertake a] three-km [time-trial]. I’d love to see some really good running times and if we can tick that off, then we can really get stuck into that next phase of our training, leading into the intra-club practice game and then the NAB Challenge,” he said.

“They’ll be a lot of game plan stuff and we really need to get that [into place] as soon as we can, but … hopefully they take the Christmas break seriously and they do get out there and run.

“[Hopefully], we are able to run some good times, when we get back on the Friday, after the sixth [of January].”

Roos added that the Demons had a reasonably healthy list at the moment and “should have good numbers” back at training on January 6.

“Touch wood, anything can happen after pre-season as we know, but the main goal is to get our best team available in round one,” he said.

“There’s still plenty of time to go before that, but we wouldn’t want to have too many players with hiccups before that time.”

Still, Roos said the introduction of the shorter pre-season, as enforced by the AFL, had impacted on the players. But he said it also had some benefits on the backend of the pre-season period.

“I think it’s harder for the bottom teams – there’s no doubt about it. You don’t have as many weeks now to get right,” he said.

“Having said that, for us, I think it’s actually not a bad thing to play an early practice game, because I want to see how the boys respond. It might give us a real good idea of the things we have to work on.

“I’d probably prefer a longer pre-Christmas, where we’ve got one or two extra weeks to work on things, but I’m not that fazed about having an early practice game … it’ll give us some good focus areas post that game to work on prior to round one.”

Having not coached in the AFL since the end of the 2010 season, when he stepped down after a successful career with the Swans, which included two Grand Finals and one premiership, Roos said he was relishing being back at the helm. 

“I’m loving it. They’re a really good bunch of guys and I’m really enjoying everyone at the footy club. It’s a pretty resilient footy club, coming off a two win season. I’ve noticed that everyone has been so positive,” he said.

“It’s great to have a good group of coaches. It’s a good mix. Bringing guys in that I know really, really well has helped me. But also having Jade [Rawlings] here, Josh [Mahoney] and Todd [Viney] – guys who have been here a while, has been really important.

“I think the coaching group and the football department are a really good mix and I think the football club overall has got some really good people in it.”

Roos is set to have a quick break over the Christmas period, including a family-planned holiday to Africa, which was locked in before he was appointed Melbourne coach. 

“I’ve actually got a couple of trips organised pre my signing on with the Melbourne footy club, so I’m heading off Wednesday,” he said.

“I’m going to Africa after that as well, so I’ll miss a couple of weeks of pre-season and hand it over to the assistant coaches and all of the players, which I think will be good for them.

“I’m looking forward to getting away and having a break, having worked all the way through [the off-season], which I enjoy doing – the trade [period], getting coaches and the drafting, but I’m looking forward to having a break like probably most of the players.”