Junee were initially confirmed as one of the 16 teams to take part in next month’s West Wyalong Knockout late last month, but captain-coach Matt Hands said a lack of player availability had forced a change of heart. 

“A few of the boys had other commitments,” Hands said.

“We could have taken a side but we just wouldn’t have been at full-strength.

“We don’t like to play to lose and thought we’d get more out of our pre-season by sitting this one out.”

The club still has pre-season clashes with Kiama and Berry lined up for March.

Player unavailability has only exacerbated problems for the undermanned Diesels, who have lost five regular contributors without any new signings to date.

Junee lost Clifford Morris to Kangaroos, while Peter Little, Will Merritt, Patrick Sagigi and Connor McCauley all moved to Brothers.

But for Hands, the focus has shifted to developing local and existing talent.

The skipper has long backed his current group of players, stating improvement will come internally on the back of the improvement of younger players like  Daniel Foley and Trent Schubach. 

The club trialled a series of new faces after returning to the training track last week, but opted against revealing their names.

Hands said he was hopeful of signing a “a couple of players”.

“It’d be handy to pick up one or two players for a bit of depth,” he said.

Hands has also been tasked with the unenviable task of bouncing back from the devastating pectoral injury he suffered in last year’s qualifying final against Gundagai.

The club’s inspirational leader is still one to two months away from getting back to full strength.

“It’s still coming along but I haven’t been rushing it,” he said.

“Unless there are any complications, I should be right for the start of the season.

“It’s just about doing all the little things to help it along, I knew it would be long process from the start.”

Hands said the injury ranked as one of the worst of his career.

“It’s definitely up there, but the achilles tear still has it covered.”

The Diesels start the Group Nine season on April 2 when they host Cootamundra.