COACH Simon Goodwin says the focus is firmly on round one, although his side has AFLX and the JLT Community Series to play first.

Although Goodwin said the two pre-season competitions were an important part of the club’s preparation, he said all eyes were directed to Melbourne’s first round clash against the Geelong Cats at the MCG on Sunday, March 25.

“The real focus is on round one against Geelong at the MCG,” he told melbournefc.com.au.

“We’re continuing our build as a team and involving our game style, and building great habits within our playing group.

“We’re functioning with that real connection and togetherness that we know we all need to have that ultimate success. We’ll continue to build that as we head towards round one.”

Although assistant Craig Jennings will coach Melbourne in AFLX, Goodwin said he was looking forward to seeing how the new concept would play out.

“It’s exciting for the competition. We haven’t seen the game and it looks like a completely different game to the way AFL footy is played,” he said.

“We go in there with open eyes and we’re keen to see how it plays out.

“I know some of the players are really keen to get involved, so it’s going to be a great little experiment and we’ll see where it takes the competition.”

Now in his second year as senior coach, Goodwin said he was feeling refreshed and ready to go for 2018.

“It was great to have a break over Christmas,” he said.

“It was a pretty long year and it was great to refresh with the family and get away with the dogs and the kids and have a bit of fun.

“I’ve come back in really rejuvenated and [I’m] looking forward to the year ahead, knowing that it’s a really important year for the footy club.”