AN AFL debut is not necessarily the No.1 goal for Melbourne youngster Christian Petracca in 2016, according to midfield teammate Jack Viney, it is playing consistent football.
Viney said Petracca was in good shape in his comeback from a knee reconstruction, and the 2014 No.2 draft pick appeared mentally strong as he prepared to re-join full training at some stage after Christmas.
But Viney said the club had no expectation on Petracca beyond continuing his development.
"Next year he just needs to get some consistency in his football [and] get back to finding himself again, finding the kind of player he was before he hurt himself," Viney said.
"Whether that is [playing] VFL or AFL, I'm not really fussed, I'm more interested in him developing as a player."
Petracca missed his first season after being injured during last year's pre-season.
Viney, runner-up in the club's 2015 best and fairest, made his senior debut in 2013 but has been managed carefully in his first 49 games.
He said he was noticing subtle changes in pre-season as the group of youngsters spent longer together.
The club was focusing more on game style and football skills at training with conditioning a big part of the process.
He said Simon Goodwin's coaching style was also starting to emerge as his role expanded in preparation for taking over as senior coach in 2017.
"I see Simon as a really well balanced person and coach. [He's] really open-minded and open to different things [and] doesn't let his ego get in the way of coaching," Viney said.
"He is a very good teacher who makes things very clear and easy to understand.
Melbourne is beginning to develop a list full of young talent with Viney, Jesse Hogan, Angus Brayshaw, Christian Salem, Billy Stretch, Alex Neal-Bullen and Tom McDonald all showing their wares at senior level in 2015.
Several trades over the off-season and two top 10 draft picks make the Demons a team to watch in 2016.
"The list is looking really good at the moment. [We've] got strong competitive players on our list," Viney said.
