COACH Paul Roos says Melbourne’s pre-season camp in Maroochydore early in the New Year will come at an important time in the club’s development.

Speaking to Dee TV, Roos said the January camp was a “really good time for us”, as he gets set to enter his second year as coach of Melbourne.

“[It’s] my second year and a lot of new players [have come to the club], so it’s good timing coming back from Christmas and we get a week back [at the club] before we go,” he said.

“[We’ll have a] strong footy focus and we’ve got a lot to make up in footy. If we can get back – and the guys have done their work over Christmas – then we’ll have a week before the players arrive at the camp.

“It’s not to say we’re going to take our foot off the pedal from a running point of view, but it’ll give the coaches the chance to meet with players and discuss game plans, which is important.”

With the players now on their Christmas/New Year break, Roos said it was still an important period for the squad.

“Guys who have done every session, which thankfully there has been quite a few of them, can look forward to taking a little bit of a mental and physical break, but not too much,” he said.

“We’ve got a three-km [time-trial] when we get back on the Friday, so we’re expecting PBs in that, across the board. Guys that haven’t done as much will need to ramp it up over Christmas and then you’ve got your rehab guys and you don’t want them to drop too far behind, because the other players have been training really hard.

“The rehabbers have been doing as much as they possibly can – and it’s hard and frustrating for them, when your body won’t allow you to do what you want it to do – so there are probably three different groups that need to do three different things.”