COACH Simon Goodwin says Melbourne’s poor recent record against St Kilda is “irrelevant” heading into its season opener at Etihad Stadium on Saturday.

Speaking at AAMI Park on Tuesday, Goodwin said the fact Melbourne had not defeated St Kilda since the second elimination final in 2006 counted for little entering 2017.

“I think it’s irrelevant really. This is a new group that wants to create its own journey,” he said.

“If people think that we’re thinking about the track record and history against St Kilda, then they’re wrong.

“This playing group is really focused on creating their own journey and their own pathway forward.”

But Goodwin acknowledged that St Kilda would be great challenge first up.

‘’I think it’s exciting for both clubs. It’s two teams that are emerging and are having really good summers. We’re looking forward to it and it’s been something we’ve been looking to for a long time now and we can’t wait to get into it on Saturday afternoon,” he said.

“We embrace the expectation and we think as a footy club, we want that expectation, but we also know we’ve got a lot to do.

“We actually haven’t done anything yet and we’ve got a lot to work on and a lot to get better at and a lot to prove.”

Goodwin said this weekend was one small piece in a bigger puzzle.

‘’Every week is important and we want to play well every week and we want to play a certain way and a brand of footy that our supporters can really engage with,” he said.

‘’It doesn’t matter who we’re playing or where we’re playing – that’s the way we want to be seen.”