SEVERAL Melbourne players and staff have arrived in Alice Springs a few days before Saturday’s clash against the Gold Coast Suns at TIO Traeger Park.

Matthew Whelan, the club’s Indigenous project officer, said it was a great opportunity for some players and staff to be involved in the club immersion program

“We’re integrating ourselves into the Alice Springs culture. We’re visiting some special sites at Alice and we’ll be tasting some Indigenous foods while we are up there,” he told melbournefc.com.au.

“We’ll be doing some things with the community team on Thursday, which includes visiting the health unit to spread the message about trachoma. We’ll also do a footy clinic and camp out overnight and sit down with the elders and hear about Dreamtime and cultural stories.

“We might even do some hunting and catch our dinner and cook it up.”

The club also has part of its Next Generation Academy located in Alice Springs.

Whelan said it was a great opportunity for Melbourne to continue building its partnership in this area.

And he said several activities were also planned as part of the trip.

“On Friday we’ve got [chief executive] Peter Jackson and [general manager of football operations] Josh Mahoney speaking to some presidents and coaches of the region, so hopefully that’ll go down pretty well – on leadership and culture,” he said.

“We’ve got the game on Saturday and we’ll do a bit with a couple of participants from the Red Tails – they’ll be involved with the ‘Hogan’s Heroes’.

“Some Indigenous boys are going to speak to the staff, the new staff, on Thursday and the new players, about their background and where they’re from and what their culture is like, so that will be good.”