The reigning premiers will open the new season with a grand final rematch against Griffith, where they will unfurl their premiership flags at Crossroads Oval.

There are a lot of new faces amongst the Demons' team for Saturday, with John Buchanan, Jason Ainsworth and Matt Hobbs all set to make their club debut.

On top of that, Brendan Bettess and Zane Bolger will make their senior debut.

Champion full-forward Marc Geppert is unavailable, along with Dereck Singe, James Demby, Nick Kennedy, Ed Perryman and James Pope.

"It's not ideal. We've definitely got a few out," Gestier said.

"Who knows, there is a lot of unknowns but it's exciting at the same time.

"We've got a few new faces in there, which is good. It's a fresher look, which is exciting and we'll get better as the year goes on.

"The biggest thing with to see with a new-look side is to see what effort we bring."

Buchanan will start at full-forward in Geppert's absence in his first game in 12 months since undergoing a knee reconstruction.

"He'll start there and might roll through the middle a bit. We'll see how he goes," Gestier said.

"It's a new side, very different and not that old. Through the backline we're very youthful too, even a guy like Matt Hobbs, who is a senior player, hasn't played that much in the last few years."

Griffith will be without former coach Guy Orton, due to a back injury, while both Ben King and Lucas Conlan are unavailable for round one.

Meantime, Ganmain-Grong Grong-Matong have not named either Scott Proctor or Josh Bubnich for their round one clash against Narrandera.

Both have question marks surrounding their availability this season due to moves.

Wagga Tigers named 12 new or returning players in their team to play Leeton-Whitton at Leeton Showground, who will be without ruckman Mason Dryburgh.

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