MELBOURNE superstar Christian Petracca doesn't like to dwell on what went wrong last September, but he believes the straight sets finals exit will make the Demons even better in 2023.

Simon Goodwin's side drifted from going all the way in 2021 to losing to Sydney and Brisbane on the opening two Friday nights of the 2022 finals series.

But after adding Brodie Grundy and Lachie Hunter during the trade period, coupled with a near flawless pre-season at Casey Fields and Gosch's Paddock, Melbourne will start the season as one of the clear premiership contenders heading into the new season.

Like many at Melbourne, Petracca has banked a full pre-season and was arguably best on ground in the Demons' comprehensive practice match win over St Kilda at RSEA Park last Friday night.

Speaking at Fox Footy's season launch this week, the three-time All-Australian midfielder said the Demons are primed to atone for the way the 2022 campaign ended.

"Obviously we were disappointed with last year's results. We all want to win the premiership, which is what we did in 2021," Petracca told AFL.com.au.

"But for me, I'm an optimistic person, I don't like to dwell on the past and look back at the year. I think it will be the best thing for us, having a disappointing year.

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"When you come off a premiership and come second on the ladder, it is still a really positive year. I wouldn't say it (last year's finals campaign) is the fire in our belly at the moment, you take each year as it comes and focus on the here and now."

After enduring a season of scrutiny and uncertainty regarding the future of young ruckman Luke Jackson, who eventually moved to Fremantle in the trade period, Melbourne is preparing to deal with a similar set of circumstances given the contract status of Kysaiah Pickett.

Petracca doesn't think the 21-year-old will be affected by the noise surrounding his future across the winter, but hopes the West Australian re-commits to the club.

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"As a footy club – and myself, I'm really close with Kozzy – we want what's best for Kozzy. He is a special player and I'd love him to stay," he said.

"I think as a footy club we learnt a lot from last year with the Luke Jackson situation, but Kozzy is fine. He's got some amazing people around him that support him ... his uncle (former Port Adelaide player Byron) and his dad (comedian and artist Kevin Kropinyeri), two people that he idolises and looks up to. They are two people that I've met and they are great people."

While the acquisition of Grundy amassed all the attention last October, Melbourne also added Hunter from the Western Bulldogs on deadline day, despite the wingman having two years to run on the five-year deal he signed in 2019, months after winning the best and fairest.

The deal cost the Demons just a future third-round pick for the 28-year-old and could prove to be one of the shrewdest moves from the 2022 trade period if Hunter continues the form he displayed against St Kilda last weekend.

"I reckon it's such an underrated pick up by the club. His footy IQ is elite; he has one of the best footy brains I've seen," Petracca said.

"He is someone that takes the ball forward, his foot skills are absolutely amazing, he is an awesome player for us. He has so much experience, obviously being at the Dogs and playing in two Grand Finals, winning a Grand Final, he has been in the league for 11 years now."

Petracca, who finished runner-up in the best and fairest in 2022 for the second consecutive year after winning it in 2020, is confident the pairing of six-time All-Australian ruckman Max Gawn with two-time All-Australian Grundy will function smoothly after they were paired for the first time against the Saints.

"They've openly spoken about how they were arch nemeses for the entirety of their career, so for Gawny to sacrifice his role to allow the calibre of someone like Grundy to come into our team is awesome," he said.

"It was Grundy’s first game at St Kilda since Anzac Day last year, so it was a long stint out. For him to get back to feeling the footy and playing some opposition was really exciting."

Melbourne will complete its preparations for round one when it hosts Richmond at Casey Fields on Saturday afternoon.