“I’m pretty nervous but also excited in another way,” Noonan said on Friday, as the Bushpigs’ date with the defending premiers, Marrar, drew ever closer.

“I’m definitely excited but I think I’m just waiting to see if what we’ve been working on for six, seven, eight weeks is going to come to fruition. If it doesn’t, that’s fine. We’ll just have a bit more work to do. That’s footy. You’ve always got more to work on.”

Noonan’s taking a measured approach to CSU’s opening game but he’s clear about what the club wants to achieve this season.

“I know what some clubs are like and how they think of us, and I think a big part of my goal this year is to knock those perceptions out of the park, and to shake up the league a bit,” he said.

“Whether that starts this weekend, I’m not too sure. We’ll wait and see tomorrow.”

Noonan doesn’t want to make the Marrar match bigger than it is. Who can blame him? The Bombers savaged the Bushpigs in round six last season, kicking 26 goals in a 145-point thrashing which crushed CSU’s promising start to the season. 

“A few of the boys have talked about it but we’ve got at least 10 new blokes. It’s a whole different dynamic now compared to last year,” Noonan said.

“The build-up to this weekend, I don’t think it’s been any different to the practice matches against Turvey (Park) and (Wagga) Tigers. we just work on what we need to work on, for our own skills and our own structures. If they fall in to place, I think we can be competitive… I think we saw against Turvey that when we go away from our structures, the ball goes back the other way very quickly.”

In a blow first-up, the Bushpigs will be without star recruit and key forward Joe Stapleton, who has a knee concern.

“He has a niggle from training and I’m just looking after him,” Noonan said. “If someone’s not 100 percent, I’d rather him sit out.”

Rowan O’Keefe, from Wangaratta, is a new arrival who has been named at full-forward in Stapleton’s absence. The Bushpigs also welcome back Vas Seker at centre-half-forward in a side with quite a bit of height.

Former South Coast forward Will Stewart is in the ruck alongside another exciting new recruit, Louis Miller, starting on the ball. 

Noonan, who spent the past four years working with the GWS Giants Academy, said the Bushpigs are also missing a handful of students due to university placements. Figuring out his top 21 isn’t a priority, with Noonan saying he expects to be manoeuvring within a group of 26 or 28 players all season. 

But the message against Marrar breaks it right down to the individuals.

“I just said to my guys, if we win our one-on-ones, we’ll be competitive,” Noonan said. “Win your one-on-ones and we’ll have a good day. We could get up and win. But first and foremost, if you’re going for the ball, win it, or tackle (your opponent) and be competitive… that’s my message, and that’s massive in how we’ll go.”

The Bombers have four big outs, with Brad Langtry, Jack Reynolds and Jeremy Rowe all unavailable and captain Josh Hagar injured.