"Competitive" was Melbourne coach Dean Bailey's favourite word last year, but too often that's all it was - a word.

From the time they were rattled in the NAB Cup by Geelong then shaken even harder by Hawthorn in round one proper, the Demons were regularly uncompetitive.

Geelong crushed Melbourne by 71 points and by the time the side trudged off the ground wearing a 100-point loss to Hawthorn like a noose, Bailey must have wondered what he had signed up for.

He says the team he inherited was riddled with injuries and never able to make up for lost ground but this Saturday, against Hawthorn in round one of the NAB Cup in Launceston, he believes things will be different.

"We're more advanced than we were 12 months ago," Bailey said on Wednesday.

"We've got a healthy list, they're fit so they should be competitive longer.

"We've trained for a fair time now and I think the players are at a stage where they're edgy and they're itching to play on Saturday."

Melbourne resumed training on October 13 and have largely avoided injuries.

"We've got more players to pick from, more pressure for spots. It's certainly reflected in the amount of training we've done and the type of training we've done, so that's a real positive," Bailey said.

"We'll just pick the best team we can, we'll pick the fittest team we can and they'll go out there - and certainly there should be an improvement on this time last year.

"When we went down to Skilled Stadium we had about 14, 15 blokes who were fit enough to play and we were scratching after number 26 and 27.

"We've probably got a squad of 33 to pick from and the majority of them are fit and ready to go."

Among those set to line up are 19-year-old rookie ruckman Jake Spencer.

"Although he's young he's very competitive and he needs to be exposed," said Bailey.

On-baller Jack Grimes, also 19, is another set to play. Grimes struggled with a back injury last year but played well in the final game against Richmond.

Bailey was also impressed by young defender Kyle Cheney who has stood out at training and during last weekend's intra-club match.

Midfielder Brock McLean is still fighting to be fully fit after being sidelined since round 14 last year with an ankle injury.

Defender Jared Rivers will be missing after rolling his ankle early in last Saturday's intra-club game but should resume training next week.

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