The former Essendon player was one of 34 past and present Bombers slapped with 12-month bans for doping offences relating to the club's ill-fated supplements program.

After 114 games with the Dons, Melksham joined the Demons at the end of 2015 on a four-year deal, but wasn't able to debut for his new club in his first season there.

He now gets the chance to feature in his first competitive hitout since 2015 when he takes on reigning premiers Western Bulldogs in a practice match at Whitten Oval on Saturday.

Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin said the weekend's match meant a lot to Melksham.

"He's just dying to play footy again and he wants to get back on the field with some teammates and really enjoy the game again," Goodwin said at the MCG on Thursday.

"He's done an incredible amount of work over the last six months to get himself in this position, I know he's really excited about it."

Another one of Melbourne's previously banned Bombers, Michael Hibberd, is at least a week away from taking to the field as he puts the finishing touches on his recovery from a knee complaint.

"He's very close to playing so I guess he's really anxious about wanting to get back out and play but his time will come in the coming weeks," Goodwin said.

Four-time premiership star Jordan Lewis will also run out for Melbourne for the first time since his controversial trade from Hawthorn to the Demons in October, but senior teammates Dom Tyson (knee) and Dean Kent (back) will be unavailable.

However Goodwin was confident he would have a full list to choose from for their season opener against St Kilda on March 25.

Melksham's return continues a theme of redemption for the first weekend of the JLT Series with Jobe Waston, Michael Hurley, Dyson Heppell, David Myers, Travis Colyer, Heath Hocking and Ben Howlett all named in the Bombers' squad to face Collingwood on Thursday night in what will also be their first matches since 2015.

The Western Bulldogs have named skipper Bob Murphy to return for the first time since round three last year, when he suffered a season-ending knee injury against Hawthorn.

And Lachie Keeffe is set to play his first match for the Magpies after serving a two-year doping ban as well.

Goodwin viewed Saturday's match-up with the reigning premiers as the ideal first hitout for 2017.

"They're an incredible team, they had an incredible year last year so it will be a great test - especially in some of the areas that we really value (such as contested ball)," he said.

With Melbourne recently announcing Jack Viney would partner Nathan Jones as the club's co-captain this year, Goodwin joked he wasn't sure who would toss the coin at Whitten Oval.

But with memories of the disastrous decision to appoint Jack Trengove and Jack Grimes as co-captains in their early 20s a few years ago still fresh in Melbourne supporters' minds, Goodwin was in no doubt that Viney, 22, was ready to lead the Dees.

"I think this needs to be made really clear that Jack Viney was ready to captain this footy club," Goodwin said.

"This is not something that is a handover period, he is ready to captain this footy club as is Nathan Jones and we value both those guys extremely highly and we think they're the two best people to drive this footy club forward."

As two key planks of Melbourne's midfield, they will be pleased to know that they will be delivering the ball to Jesse Hogan for at least the next three seasons after the star forward put pen to paper on a new deal in October – quashing speculation about his future in the process.

Hogan seemed to be weighed down by the uncertainty surrounding his future last year but Goodwin believes a weight has now been lifted off the 2015 Rising Star's shoulders.

"Jess is now a really settled person, he's established here at the footy club, he's got some great work habits and he's really driving his career forward," the Melbourne coach said.

"Having him signed up now is terrific and I think gives him some clear air to really focus on what the team requires to be successful."

After falling just short of a top-eight spot last year, Melbourne are viewed as a strong finals chance in 2017 and Goodwin is embracing those expectations but stressed his squad was still in a "development and improvement phase".