MELBOURNE captain David Neitz says the club is in confident mood going into the 2007 season.

Speaking ahead of their first-round clash with St Kilda on Friday night at the MCG, Neitz said the pre-season regime had been focused solely on the premiership season.

“We were pretty low key throughout the NAB Cup and our whole focus has been around getting up for round one and the season proper,” he said.

"We've had a pretty quiet pre-season. Most of our guys have been pretty fit all the way through. We've been pretty happy with our preparation."

The 32-year-old says that although his side is fully prepared for any match-day scenario, he doesn’t believe that injured St Kilda star Nick Riewoldt will line up against the Demons at the MCG.

"It would be a bit of a risk I reckon for the Saints to put him out there but who knows, he might be right to go and we'll be expecting that if he is," Neitz said.

However, he said he was wary of speculation about injuries at this crucial time of the season.

"It's a bit of a time to be aware I think. There's a lot of speculation about whether guys are right or not."