Melbourne veteran Cameron Bruce is confident of a strong performance in the AFL season-opener against Hawthorn, despite the Demons’ shocking injury run.

Melbourne’s pre-season injury woes continued during the practice match on Saturday against West Coast when midfielder Colin Sylvia suffered a broken jaw which will sideline him for four-to-six weeks.

Livewire forward Austin Wonaeamirri also suffered a fresh hamstring injury in a VFL trial match on the weekend as he tries to return from a year on the sidelines.

Liam Jurrah (shoulder), Daniel Bell (shoulder) and Cale Morton (knee) have also suffered injuries during the pre-season.

Hawthorn smashed Melbourne by 104 points two years ago, the last time they met in round one, but Bruce is confident the Demons will start the season much better this time against the Hawks.

The two teams will clash at the MCG on March 27.

“The confidence and momentum that comes from a good start, you can get on a run and you never know where that confidence can take you,” Bruce said.

“We see it as a very winnable game and we’ll be doing our utmost to go out and make sure we get off to a really good start.

“I’m pretty confident we’re going to be a much more improved side this year.”

Speaking at the club’s family day on Sunday, Bruce said most of the injuries in the last few weeks had been due to shocking luck.

“It’s been a terrible run with injuries, some of those injuries have been a bit freakish and you can’t really avoid,” he said.

“We’ll keep our chins up, get out there in round one and hopefully have a big impact.”

Wonaeamirri had a stunning debut season in 2008, but hamstring and knee injuries meant he never returned to the AFL last year.

Bruce said he should be out of action this time for about three weeks.

“The ‘good’ one (hamstring) has given way this time, hopefully when he comes back that will be it for him and he can have a good run, because he needs a change in luck,” Bruce said.

The Demons are determined to stop rebuilding this year and start moving up the ladder.

Bruce said they have shown some promise in the pre-season, but need more consistency.

“We’ve shown some really good signs through our games, we’ve been improving in our matches – yesterday our first half was pretty good, the second half we dropped away a bit,” he said.

“Hopefully the injury run is over, we’ll do some work on the training track, work on our structures.”

Last year’s top two draft picks, Tom Scully and Jack Trengove, have been particularly impressive as they prepare for senior debuts.

“They’re outstanding … they go about their business, they just want to get better and there’s not much hoo-ha about the way they do things,” Bruce said.

“But they get it done and it’s no surprise they’re performing in the (practice) games.”

He added Jack Watts, Melbourne’s 2008 No.1 draft pick, should play in a trial match next week after recovering from back problems.

© AAP 2012

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