MELBOURNE will play under a set of rules in a "full on" session slated for Saturday as the Demons undertake an intraclub clash in preparation for their first Grand Final in 21 years.
The Demons trained on Wednesday at Mineral Resources Park, the home of West Coast, with key defender Steven May completing his work and shrugging off any fitness concerns on his hamstring.
The club will hold match simulation on Saturday a week out from its premiership-deciding clash with the Western Bulldogs, with running defender Jayden Hunt pushing to reclaim a spot in the side after his ankle injury.
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But classy half-back Christian Salem said the Demons had to walk the tightrope in the warm-up game to ensure they were match ready without overstepping the mark.
"There is a fine balance. We're going to go pretty hard but it's more [a case of] not jumping into people's backs going in for marks and [no] sling tackles and what not," Salem said on Wednesday.
"But when we're playing, we're going full on.
"There's the running and the high-performance team have numbers we need to hit, and there's also the contested ball aspect to it in terms of hitting bodies and trying to feel like it is a bit of a game."
The Dees' two comfortable finals wins over Brisbane and then Geelong last week, combined with the pre-finals bye being moved to the weekend ahead of the Toyota AFL Grand Final this year, means when the club runs out against the Bulldogs it would have been its second game in the past 28 days.
Salem said the Demons' fitness staff, led by Darren Burgess, had taken the lead to ensure Melbourne was ready to break its 57-year flag drought.
"The high-performance team and coaches have done a good job in planning that and making sure we were ready for Geelong and there's no different over the next few weeks. We'll embrace it and it is what it is," he said.
"Either way [playing this weekend or next] it's a good chance to freshen up and we're still getting our match simulation in it's just a bit more controlled which helps us a bit and allows us to freshen up."
The Demons have had a lighter few days in Perth following their dominant preliminary final win over the Cats, with Wednesday's session seeing them step up their work in a gradual build to the second straight Grand Final outside of Victoria.