KEY defender Tom McDonald has edged out Jack Viney and Jeremy Howe respectively to win Melbourne’s three-km time-trial at Princes Park on Friday.

McDonald said he wasn’t over the moon with his result, but pleased with his pre-season start.

“It wasn’t too bad. It wasn’t a great time; I thought I could have done a little bit better,” he told Dee TV. 

“We had a few guys run good times, so it was a good way to get started.

“Howe ran really well actually and he’s looking really fit and he’s looking really good at the moment, so it’s good for him. Viney’s come a huge way with his endurance, so they’re both doing really well.”

McDonald said the three-km time-trial was a good indication of the players’ fitness after the off-season.

“It’s a good sign to show where you’re at and whether you have to work on that side of the game or if your endurance is at an acceptable level,” he said.

“Then you [can] move onto repeat speed and strength – if you can tick the three-km [time-trial] off early, then it’s a really good start.”

It was Melbourne’s second session back, after its official pre-season campaign started on Wednesday.

“It was a pretty solid hit out for day one. Most of the guys knew that they had to be ready to go for that first game [of 2015],” he said.

“We got the heat put on us by Roosy (Paul Roos) to be ready to go for that first session and we didn’t want any injuries setting us back and you had to do the work in the off-season to make sure it didn’t happen.

“It was a good way to start it (pre-season).”

McDonald said he was determined to have a big pre-season after an enjoyable off-season.

“I went over to America for about five weeks and visited a few different colleges and a few basketball teams and the NFL,” he said.

“I learned about a lot about the way they do their sport and how they train and how the off-field stuff goes as well, so I had a really good trip and mixed in a few touristy things as well.

“I really enjoyed the trip.”