COACH Dean Bailey says his players are more advanced in their pre-season than they were at the same stage last year.
Bailey said the majority of players were healthy and able to complete the pre-season.
“We’re in pretty good shape. We’ve got more players on the track than last year,” he said.
“We’re certainly a little bit further ahead than last year, which is really good.
“The China experience was just a great platform for us to really launch into not only the pre-season and pre-Christmas, but next year. So that was a really important aspect.”
Bailey said pre-season had been mentally and physically taxing on the players.
“They’re training hard. Most pre-seasons are hard. Guys get mentally and physically weary, so we’ve just got to make sure we get enough breaks in the training coming up to Christmas,” he said.
“We’ve got to keep them fit during January - that’s a really important month to launch into our first game.”
Meanwhile, Bailey believes the new Melbourne guernsey launched last week “represents everything about our club”.
“In the last two or three years … we’ve really promoted the history of the club. We think it’s important that numbers represent something, and we want to respect those who have played in them,” he said.
“We’ve built into the modern era, but with a lot of traditional ways about it, so it’s fantastic.
“We’re all part of it and we want to make sure that the players who are wearing it are respecting those who have played in it. It’s all about them making a career themselves as well.”
Bailey said the majority of players were healthy and able to complete the pre-season.
“We’re in pretty good shape. We’ve got more players on the track than last year,” he said.
“We’re certainly a little bit further ahead than last year, which is really good.
“The China experience was just a great platform for us to really launch into not only the pre-season and pre-Christmas, but next year. So that was a really important aspect.”
Bailey said pre-season had been mentally and physically taxing on the players.
“They’re training hard. Most pre-seasons are hard. Guys get mentally and physically weary, so we’ve just got to make sure we get enough breaks in the training coming up to Christmas,” he said.
“We’ve got to keep them fit during January - that’s a really important month to launch into our first game.”
Meanwhile, Bailey believes the new Melbourne guernsey launched last week “represents everything about our club”.
“In the last two or three years … we’ve really promoted the history of the club. We think it’s important that numbers represent something, and we want to respect those who have played in them,” he said.
“We’ve built into the modern era, but with a lot of traditional ways about it, so it’s fantastic.
“We’re all part of it and we want to make sure that the players who are wearing it are respecting those who have played in it. It’s all about them making a career themselves as well.”
