While most football experts have the Power finishing well down the ladder again this season, Westhoff said the rejuvenation over the summer at Alberton had the club well placed to climb and climb quickly.
Players have praised the direct coaching style of former Geelong and Gold Coast assistant Ken Hinkley, as well as the return of fitness guru Darren Burgess.
Burgess and Hinkley have put players through the toughest pre-season regime in several years and Westhoff said their approach would pay dividends.
"The last month has picked up another notch, coming off a tough pre-season with Darren (Burgess) coming back, which I think is a big key for the club, and that's put everybody in really good step to have a really good season," Westhoff said.
"[Ken's] professionalism, his passion … he just wants to get the best out of everyone.
"He just wants to win.
"He's got the right guys on board and I think that's turned the club in the right direction … all the players and all the support staff are feeling that at the moment.
"Hopefully we can play finals."
Westhoff said the signing of French motoring giant Renault as a joint major partner and the arrival of David Koch as club chairman had also boosted morale and "re-energised" the club.
The 26-year-old said the Power's pre-season results had already started to show the club was turning the corner after two poor seasons in which it finished 16th in 2011 and 14th last year.
In their last two outings the Power have defeated flag favourites West Coast and reigning premiers the Sydney Swans, with Westhoff identifying Power's contested efforts as the key.
But while wins over two classy sides had been encouraging, Westhoff said success against Melbourne in round one would set the tone for the rest of the season.
"Looking on the last few games I think we've come a long way from last year," he said.
"Tackling and obviously contested possession … at the moment we are doing those things well and that's coming out in the scores on the board and enabling us to stay in games for longer and compete against those top-tier teams.
"It's big focus for us just to win that first game, to get the ball rolling and wins coming.
"Things will roll on from there, we've got really good momentum coming into this season and that's something we've really focused on over the last month."
After struggling to average more than a goal a game since his rookie year of 2007, Westhoff said he needed to find consistency.
"[Ken] obviously wants a more consistent effort from myself and a lot of other guys at the same period of their career which we probably haven't had in the past," he said.
"There are times in my game where I think I've probably reached that level where I can dictate games, but that's probably not enough of the season, not enough games in a row.
"Hopefully I can bring that this year."
Justin Westhoff is a forward in NAB AFL Fantasy. He averaged 76.64 points in 2012. Register your team at our AFL Fantasy Hub.
Harry Thring is a reporter for AFL Media. Follow him on Twitter: @AFL_Harry.
