MELBOURNE will travel to the Sunshine Coast in January next year for a 10-day pre-season camp.

Manager of football operations Josh Mahoney said: “During the month of January, AAMI Park is one of the venues hosting the Asian Cup, and during that period we lose access to our facilities, so it made sense when planning our pre-season to move off-site then.”

“The camp will be a good opportunity for the players to continue their development and understanding of the game plan, while replicating the sessions, which they would be completing in Melbourne.”

With plenty of changes in the football department last year, Mahoney said the club spent a lot of time building relationships last pre-season.

“Pleasingly we have got a lot of stability within our football department this year, particularly in our coaching group, with only the one change due to George Stone retiring and the addition of Simon Goodwin and now Brendan McCartney," he said. 

Mahoney said camps such as these are an important part of the football program.

“They break up the pre-season for everyone and it gives our players and coaches a great opportunity to further strengthen relationships that have been built over the last 12 months and for Simon to get to know the players since joining the club."

The facilities while on camp won’t be compromised in any way, which pleased Mahoney.

“We have managed to get access to some first class facilities on the Sunshine Coast and we are confident we will be able to complete our full program while there.”

Premiers Hawthorn will also be heading to the Sunshine Coast prior to the Christmas break.