Melbourne veteran Jake Melksham believes the Dees' young group is invigorating and infectious for the seasoned player at the club.
Speaking on Tuesday at the MCG ahead of his 250th game in Gather Round, Melksham praised the energy that new coach Steven King has brought to Melbourne which has resulted in a 3-1 start to 2026.
"It's super energetic and when I look around when I'm out on the field and at training, for the first time in a long time, I think the youth and energy is outweighing the older, more experienced players and there are a lot of guys who have been on the fringe in previous years that are really providing value to our team," Melksham said.
"I think as an older player when you're out there watching these guys who have worked super hard over their careers to date start to get the fruits of their labour come on show, it's really exciting.
"On the weekend was a perfect example of guys like Harry Sharp, Koltyn Tholstrup, Caleb Windsor all coming to the fore and playing really good games.
"If you were to say to the footy world that Melbourne would be 3-1, there wouldn't have been anyone who would have agreed with that and we've been driving that message across pre-season and summer to instil belief in us as a group and Kingy's been really strong with that.
"He's a humble person, but brings confidence and he's backing us to execute his game plan and it's been really exciting in this first month."
After a pre-season interrupted by injury, the 34-year-old played his first AFL game of the season on Sunday with a big speccie one of the highlights of the match.
His four goal game proved he still had plenty to offer at AFL level but was realistic when assessing his future beyond 2026.
"It's the same thought every year, it's probably going to be my last year and when you've watched me play in the last few years, that's how I've played," Melksham said.
"I've tried to play every game like it will be my last and enjoy it for what it is. We'll come back to that in a few months time and see where it lands."
After spending his first six seasons at Essendon, Melksham crossed to the Dees ahead of the 2016 season.
While there have been injury setbacks during that time, including missing the 2021 premiership, he has played his best footy in attack, which included a late career resurgence last season where he kicked 33 goals often as Melbourne's spearhead.
"It came at a pretty important time I think," Melksham said of the move.
"I had six years (at Essendon) and I absolutely loved my time there even though we had some really hard times. I have a lot of friendships at that footy club and I'm still close with a lot of people there today but I think for my football career that was an important time to move and change it up.
"Especially with ‘Goody' (former coach Simon Goodwin) in my corner, we had a few conversations about what it could look like. My career had kind of stagnated at that time and I don't think I reached my full potential there and ‘Goody' certainly saw that.
"When I came across, I was a midfielder that didn't quite work out and he put me forward and I think the rest is history since then.
"I've absolutely loved my time at the Dees. We've had many ups and many downs. I've had my three kids at Melbourne and it's like two different lives I've lived.
"I had no kids at Essendon and now coming across I've grown a family and we've loved our time at the Dees."
Melksham will play his 250th against his former side, Essendon, at Adelaide Oval at 1.15pm on Saturday.
