CAPTAIN Nathan Jones says he “can see the finish line now” and is ready to start playing pre-season matches instead of just undertaking pre-season training.

Speaking at Melbourne’s community camp in Gippsland, Jones said the players were champing at the bit to start playing.

He added that pre-season was now “about refining training and honing in on particular areas”.

“As a midfield group, we’re just really refining our stoppages and centre bounces, whereas early in the pre-season you’re focusing on conditioning and match fitness and entire team focus or offence and defence,” he told Dee TV.

“It’s getting more exciting with match play and knowing that it’s just around the corner.

“There is a fair bit of urgency and we’ve got a pretty fit list at the moment, so it’s an exciting run into that.

“I’m excited to see if we can implement what we’ve really trained hard with over the pre-season.”

Melbourne will open its NAB Challenge campaign against Fremantle at Fremantle Oval on March 5.