The Heat play their first game of the Waratah League season on Saturday, on to road against last year's beaten grand finalists.

Sutherland will give a real guide for coach John Norman of where the side is at after to returning to the coaching role for the first time in 2013.

Height will be one of the keys for the Heat with three players over well over 200cm in their line up.

With Scott Hare back for another season, American import Matthew Brunell arriving and Matt Pearce returning to the club after five years there are no shortages of big bodies at Norman's disposal.

With that in mind he's looking to adopt a different approach.

"We're a very big squad, we've got three guys six foot eight or taller, so it gives us a different look to pretty much the whole time I've been there," Norman said.

However how the team transitions is also an important part of Norman's plan.

There are plenty changes from the side last year.

Captain Zac Maloney, Hare, Shaun Carter and Eddie Merkel are still there with Brunell added in plus Bobby and Dom Tye, Pearce, Chaz Bishop, Miguel Escandon and Shane Atkinson have all returned after some time away.

Despite the changes, Norman is pleased with how the side comes into the season.

"It's looking good," he said.

"We've had a pretty thorough pre-season and have been working really hard with three sessions a week plus the guys doing their own outside of that so we're shaping up reasonably well.

"You never really know coming into a pre-season how it is going to come together until you face some opposition."

Orange have returned to the competition adding another team to the southern pool.

After being knocked out in the first week of the play-offs last season, a return to that stage is one of the goals Norman has set for the side.

READ MORE