Just 43 days after their last game and 16 days since the 2009 Grand Final, the 2010 pre-season is officially underway at Melbourne.

Jack Grimes, Cale Morton, Stefan Martin, Jake Spencer and Kyle Cheney were among eight young Demons on the training track at the Junction Oval on Monday morning, and were expected to be joined by another 20-or-so team-mates later in the day.

A delighted senior coach Dean Bailey said the advance guard were in exceptional condition.

"They all had certain specific skinfolds and a couple of other measurements to get back to and they've all hit those and six of the eight are underneath where we expect them to be," said Bailey.

"That's a good sign that over the six or seven-week break they've had they've kept themselves in a condition that's satisfactory to start a pre-season."

"The condition you come back in is a really big statement to make to the coaches and the club that, 'I'm serious about this pre-season'."

"Not too many people stand up at the end of the year and say, 'Gee, I had a great season but I had a terrible pre-season'."

Bailey said the summer ahead would be crucial for the club's top two picks from last year's national draft, Jack Watts and Sam Blease.

Blease, whose first season at the club was derailed by a shattered ankle sustained while mucking around at school, will be on a controlled program up until Christmas and won't be rushed, according to Bailey, despite being more advanced than expected

The main goal for Watts, the celebrated No.1 selection at last year's draft, will be to add 3-4 kilograms to his 89kg frame between now and the start of the new season.

"He's not someone who can't put weight on, he can put it on, so I would reckon he'd probably roll into next year at about 92 or 93 (kilograms) depending on whether he can hold the muscle he puts on," said Bailey.

"The following year we'd probably be around the 94-95 kilo mark."

"He's been doing a bit over the last couple of months, some extra weight sessions, so he's been ticking over nicely, Jack."

As for the big picture, Bailey said it was time for the Demons, who've finished last for the past two seasons with combined total of just seven victories over that period, to live up to their promise in 2010.

"I would like to think that with all the changes that we've made