WHAT would normally be a regulation summer practice match carries far greater significance for two of the eight NAB AFL Women's teams on Saturday.

Players and coaches from Carlton and Melbourne will get the first indicators of the worth of condensed pre-season programs during the important season rehearsal at Ikon Park, the Blues’ home ground. 

"People ask how the program is going and I've got confidence in our coaches, strength and conditioning program and our medical team. But we've had no comparisons," Melbourne football operations manager Deb Lee said. 

"So the practice match will really allow us to test what the girls have learned, to what extent they can apply that and how the program has enhanced them as footballers. 

"The girls are really excited and very nervous though, because they want to perform the first time they step out as a team."

Although the practice match will be played in the 16-a-side format to be used in the NAB AFL Women's competition starting early next month, both teams hope the AFL will permit extended interchange benches so coaches can observe as many of their players as possible under game conditions. The competition rules allow for squads of 22 per game, with six on the bench. 

"I will be really interested to see how the girls perform in the competitive environment of a game. You've got pressure and you've got to make decisions pretty quickly, so they’re the elements of the game I'm really looking forward to seeing because that will cement us as a squad," Lee said. 

Melbourne has only a handful of training sessions remaining before its first-round clash with the Brisbane Lions at Casey Fields in Cranbourne in Melbourne’s outer south-east on February 5.

"We've had a few niggles here and there, but the majority of our team has been on the park," Lee said.

"We gave them some protocols to follow (during the Christmas-New Year break) and we're really pleased they followed those because they came back ready for the next phase of the program.

"The challenge now is to assess from this point on what we're going to get the greatest benefit from. Is it putting more emphasis on team structures? In a game sense, is it continuing to work with fundamentals? And what do our weights and conditioning look like?" she said. 

"No one has done this before, so it's trial and error. It's got to be fluid and you've got to be flexible."

As the Demons' women's operations manager, Lee has rarely had a day off since pre-season training started in late November.

"I’ve been reflecting on what is required to put this team on the park, including compliance with the AFL and the management of players and off-field staff," she said.

"We've got great facilities here (at AAMI Park), so it’s all working, and the integration of the club’s football departments has been fantastic. 

"But the challenge from a footy ops point of view was just the volume of work and understanding that the program had to be reviewed to ensure we got the best out of our athletes in a short period of time." 

By the time the historic first round arrives, the Demons' players will have completed a program that was only 72 hours in duration. 

"It’s not a lot when you think about what we're asking them to do," Lee said.