The AFL finals clock is ticking loud in Bernie Vince's ear as the Melbourne veteran nears the end of his career.
The Demons have not finished in the top eight since 2006 and agonisingly missed out by percentage last year, when West Coast won the last match of the regular season.
But excitement is building at Melbourne and they opened the pre-season with a 53-point belting of North Melbourne.
Vince, 32, has played 212 games, including the last four seasons at Melbourne.
"You're not sure how long you have left in footy when you get to my age," Vince said.
"You get impatient, don't you ... these young guys coming through, although they're disappointed, they probably have a long time to make up for it.
"But guys like myself, Jordan Lewis and Nathan Jones, we're at an age where we get a little bit impatient and we want results now.
"We think we've set ourselves up really well."
While last year ended in heartbreak, Vince said it might have done the Demons the world of good.
"Inside the footy club, we've been excited about this young list for a couple of years," he said.
"We were a bit disappointing towards the end of last year, we fell away.
"It might not end up being a bad thing, the disappointment of missing out last year.
"Hopefully we can turn that excitement into results."
Vince and Lewis will again help coordinate Melbourne's defence, playing across half-back.
The recruiting of Jake Lever is a major boost for their backline and Vince said the former Adelaide player offers plenty with his intercept marking.
"We look pretty safe, with him floating across and taking intercept marks," Vince said.
"We weren't a bad defence last year, but that ability to take intercept marks is just gold.
"Guys like that, you've seen how well they play at other clubs, but you don't know how they're going to take onto a new group.
"He's only young himself and he's been outstanding."
Another feature of their win over Melbourne was forwards such as Jesse Hogan and Christian Petracca having midfield spells.
"You can have that up your sleeve a little bit, Vince said.
"Teams can't really get set on you and in the past we've only had three or four bloke who could play there (midfield)."
Melbourne's second pre-season game is on March 8 against St Kilda at Casey Fields.
