KEY defender Lynden Dunn says the relationships formed among the players and coaches have been a key reason for a strong pre-season so far.

Dunn, who capped off his finest AFL season with a fourth placing in Melbourne’s best and fairest award in 2014, said it was one of the big differences he had noticed from coach Paul Roos’ first pre-season at the club to this year. 

“Everyone has built better relationships with each other,” he told melbournefc.com.au.

“We know what Roosy expects of us and the way he coaches – he understands us better as players, along with the line coaches as well.

“We’ve got that really good base that we’ve had for 12 to 18 months now and I think it’s going to hold us in good stead going into 2015.”

Dunn said the training standards had also been a “big focus” for the club.

“In the past, training standards have fluctuated from good to very good to average standard, so we’re just trying to bridge that gap. That’ll translate into our footy on game day as well,” he said.

“We’ve got some good players at the club now with Heritier [Lumumba], Ben Newton and Jeffy Garlett for example and they’ve let us know that we’re not that far away and we’ve got the talent here.

“I think we’re slowly building the work ethic as well to go with it and become a good footy club again.”

On a personal note, Dunn didn’t miss a beat leading up to the Christmas/New Year break.

“I haven’t really missed a session, which is important at this time of year – just to build a base,” he said.

“I’m trying to tick the legs over and tick the mind over. We’ve had four or five weeks of solid training and now we’re looking forward to the break before getting stuck into next year.”

Dunn said he was determined to help take the club to the next level in 2015.   

“I feel really good at the moment. I’ve got plenty of energy and I’ve still got the hunger inside me. I tailed away, as did the team, towards the end of last season, so I’ve got that drive inside me,” he said.

“I just really want to take the footy club forward and being a leader now – it’s up to me and the other leaders to really drive where we’re going, the training standards, the standards off the field and game day.

“It’s a great challenge for us as a leadership group, but I’m really excited for all of the boys that we’ve got in over the trade [and recruiting] period. 

“We’ve had five weeks together now and we’re really building a solid base to hit the ground running.”