Cohalan is unperturbed by the fact that they'll face a highly-rated contender, with the Bushpigs keen to prove they've been under-rated themselves.

A majority of coaches rated East Wagga-Kooringal the team to beat but the Blues weren't far behind.

"Coleambally," Cohalan said when asked about the team to beat.

"I think they've recruited very well and have a lot of experienced (Riverina League) players join their ranks.

"I think they were shaping up pretty well last year before the season got called off and I think they'll be the ones to beat at this stage.

"We'll get to test ourselves against them in week one, over there, so it'll be a good challenge for us."

The Blues have signed former Leeton-Whitton coach Jade Hodge to play key forward, although their own co-coaches Luke Hillier and Curtis Steele are likely to share the deep forward role (rotating through the middle) on Saturday, with Hodge suspended.

And former Griffith star Guy Orton gets his shot at the Farrer League a year later than planned.

CSU's off-season has been quieter in terms of headlines, but Cohalan is convinced this is a year of opportunity for many new Bushpigs. And they're keen to know where they stand.

"On their home deck, it's a probably a great opportunity to see how we're going straight away, and see what we need to improve on," he said.

"t'll give us a good benchmark. We haven't had footy for over a year, I'm new to the Farrer League and we've got a lot of players who are new to the club and the Farrer League so it'll be very interesting to see the level, and the level required to get to."

He's been pleased with his side's attitude and effort at training and in practice matches, and believes they'll improve as the season progresses.

"I'm not putting a ceiling on their level of improvement because I've seen even from December to now a lot of improvement," Cohalan said.

"But we don't know what to expect from the opposition or even ourselves. I said to a few of the boys, we're as excited as anyone to see how we'll go. We have no pre-conceived ideas or plans of how we'll go, or our expectations, we just want to put our best foot forward every week and that starts this week with Coleambally."

Blues co-coach Curtis Steele said they've done some homework on CSU signing Andrew Dickins and will need to nullify his influence in the ruck or forward.

They have their own big men in Darcy Mader and Brendan Hardy but are without key defender Tom Morton for the first couple of weeks.

"We're feeling pretty good, we're pretty confident with the team we've got. There's a lot of people with itchy feet and looking forward to the first game,"said Steele, who played last year but is keen to get into his delayed coaching role.

"This week, it's he week it's sunk in the most ,.. and when you're picking sides, it's a headache you like to have."

Steele said he can't wait to see what Orton brings and Theo and Tom Valeri, also from Griffith, who are likely to go through the middle and rotate on a flank, back or forward.

"I think they'll be very handy for us. I'm really looking forward to seeing their run-and-carry and I think they'll enjoy the Farrer League," he said.

Steele was among the coaches to rate East Wagga-Kooringal as the team to beat, and The Rock-Yerong Creek as a big danger.

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