THEIR first home and away game of 2012 is more than four months away, but there's already plenty of confidence in the Carlton camp.

The Blues recently returned to Melbourne after kicking off their pre-season with a camp in Qatar and Abu Dhabi, and they held their first session back at Visy Park on Monday morning.

"It's good to be back," midfielder Bryce Gibbs said before the session began.

"It's obviously not as hot as it was in Qatar, but the boys had a good training camp over there and they're looking forward to getting back into it as a full group.

"I think that belief is really [high] in the group at the minute.

"We played some really good footy last year, and we showed that our best footy can match it with the top teams."

Carlton won its first finals match for a decade when it thrashed Essendon in last season's elimination final.

Spurred on by memories of their narrow loss to West Coast a week later, Gibbs and his teammates are now focusing on winning the Blues their first premiership since 1995.

"We certainly don't fear anyone, so there's a real belief that we can do something exciting - especially next year, and in the next couple of years," he said.

These days, most AFL clubs are copying the trend set by Collingwood and heading overseas for pre-season camps.

And Gibbs is adamant the recent camp in the Middle East will benefit the Carlton players on the field next year.

"There's been great benefits fitness-wise … and you don't get that sort of time away to bond very often, so it was good to spend some time with the young guys and get to know them a bit better as well," he said.

The Blues began their training in the Middle East on October 18, which was only a month after their semi-final loss to West Coast in Perth.

But Gibbs said the players were not concerned about having such a short break at the end of the season.

"It was pretty early for us," he acknowledged. "But although we've come back early, we get a few breaks along the way as well.

"It's probably not a bad thing as you don't lose too much fitness.

"We made some massive improvements fitness-wise in the short time we were [overseas]. It just gives us a good kick-start leading into next year.

"It also breaks pre-season up a bit. We had three hard weeks of training, had a bit of a spell for 10 days, and now have a four-week block leading into Christmas.

"It's good to just break it up and not have 10 weeks of grind."

Gibbs says the 6am grappling sessions on the beach in Abu Dhabi, which he avoided because of a shoulder problem, were the toughest assignments for the players in the Middle East.

"Getting down towards the end of those sessions, and looking at the boys' faces - they were covered head-to-toe in sand and their facial expressions showed they'd been doing it pretty tough," he said.

"That would've been the hardest bit of the whole trip, I reckon.

"Mentally, it will hold us in good stead for sure."