The Hawks have welcomed a handful of Riverina Lions players into their nest after the Lions opted not to compete in this year's league, and focus on their Canberra campaign.

It has boosted the Hawks' ranks for the expanded eight-team competition, and will help the Lions players get rid of some rust before they play in the capital.

The Hawks began preparations for their season opener against Brookdale on Friday, February 12 with a trial against newcomers Ganmain-Grong Grong at Gumly Oval on Wednesday night.

Lions stalwart Amy Coote will coach the Hawks, with predecessor Ken McPherson to assist for the first few rounds before he leaves for Lismore.

"We (Riverina Lions) don't have a male club supporting us, we're an individual club and we can't really afford to play two comps," Coote said.

"We would love to play in the Riverina comp and not play in the Canberra comp, but the Canberra comp goes for a lot longer.

"It's a bit of practice and we're happy to help the Hawks out at the same time."

McPherson said the mini-merger made sense for all parties.

"At the end of the day we're still in the development stage of women's footy. We have to promote it where we can and some of these Lions girls are in for a long season at Canberra, and a handful of them wanted to play," McPherson said.

"It probably worked out pretty well. A lot of our girls couldn't do a lot of training because of work and a few also pulled out, so it turned out to be a good solution.

"It's about developing women's football here in the Riverina and if we can keep clubs having good numbers wanting to play, it's a great idea."

Collingullie-Glenfield Park will also make their debut in this year's competition.

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