MELBOURNE’S Round 1 match is 38 days aways, it’s official practice match is 22 days away and its first hit-out against opposition only 15 days aways.

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However, Dees’ skipper Max Gawn will be returning to games in just over a week, joining teammates Kysaiah Pickett and Trent Rivers in the 2026 AFL Origin match on Saturday 14 February.

Gawn will be representing Victoria, while Pickett and Rivers will be representing Western Australia.

Speaking on TripleM’s ‘Mick in the morning’ show, Gawn said he was looking forward to getting stuck into some real footy action.

“I'm really excited,” Gawn said.

“I've got no Victorian teammates at Melbourne, but I've got a couple of WA boys, Kozzy and Trent. We've been getting a little bit of banter going.

“We’ve got a practice match against North Melbourne five days later, and I guess I won't play in that now, but I'm playing this one instead.

“So, it's pretty much a dress rehearsal. I was going to be playing footy anyway, why not do it in front of 50,000 with the big V on.”

Dees fans and footy fans alike are all eager to see what new coach Steven King can do with the Demon outfit in 2026, with 10 new players and a fresh game style.

“[Kingy’s been good, I feel like I've answered that question in the last three or four weeks by saying it's been a bit of a honeymoon, everyone's been happy we've changed things up,” Gawn said.

“But the last couple of weeks it's changed, we’ve got opposition coming up, we’ve got North Melbourne and Richmond in practice games in less than a month. It’s become serious now.”  

When asked how he thinks the team will go, the answer was obvious- he’s backing in his side. However, he did admit that he felt like expectations of those outside the club were not high for King’s first season as coach. 

“I do think we’ll make the top ten… we're confident we can go all the way,” Gawn said.

“To be fair, not one person has tipped us, but that usually goes well for us.”

Gawn finished his chat on TripleM with exciting club news that Penrite Oil would be joining on as a Major Partner. 

"How good does that look? Penrite Oil on the back and on the front [of the guernsey]," Gawn said. 

"It suits our brand really well…I’m really excited to have them on the jumper as a sponsor."