It may be the nearest thing to a final the Demons will experience this season but, according to Melbourne on-baller Brock McLean, Monday's traditional Queen's Birthday clash with Collingwood is no different to the 21 other matches the club will contest in 2009.
"It's the biggest crowd-wise and playing on a public holiday as well ... obviously everyone's going to be watching and there's going to be 70 or 80,000 there, but we'll just treat it like any other normal game," said McLean.
"There's four points up for grabs and we'll go out like we do every week, trying to get a win."
"I can't speak on behalf of everyone, but my view is, 'why treat this game any differently to any other game?'"
McLean said there were no 'added expectations' of Jack Watts, the competition's No.1 draft pick from 2008 who will be making his AFL debut on Monday.
"We think he's going to be a very good player for this footy club and it doesn't matter whether you're the first pick or the last picked in the draft, your first game's always going to be your most memorable," McLean said.
Asked about his much talked-about pre-season sparring session with Watts that left the new boy nursing a bloody nose, McLean said it was simply a case of a 'public school bloke trying to toughen-up a private school boy'.
"I was only throwing left jabs, and he put his hands up to block a punch and I've hit his hands and his hands have hit his nose," McLean said.
"In the end, it was his own two hands."
McLean was speaking after training at Casey Fields in Melbourne's south-east, where the Demons have entered a 30-year agreement to set up a summer training base which will also be used once-a-week in-season.
Under the agreement, Casey Fields will undergo a $2 million redevelopment to upgrade spectator facilities, provide new change rooms and office space.
"It gives us stability, we've got somewhere that we can train full-time now," said McLean.
"It gives us an opportunity to get our brand out there, to get the club out there in the fastest growing corridor in the south-east of Victoria."
Melbourne chairman Jim Stynes said the proposed redevelopment would provide a 'home away from home' and a facility akin to a university campus.
"We'll be going from the worst facilities in the AFL (at Junction Oval) to potentially the best", said Stynes.