MANGOPLAH-Cookardinia United-Eastlakes will persist with three pre-season trials to prepare for the upcoming season after it helped spark a strong start to their 2021 campaign.
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The Goannas opted to play three practice matches last year, mostly due to having a team bye in round one, but will retain the same format, beginning with a trial against Ainslie in Canberra on Saturday.
MCUE finished top two last year and were in a strong position to press for a first flag since 1993, before the Riverina League finals series was cancelled.
"We started really slowly in 2019 and 2020, so you have a look at things to get out of the blocks a bit better," coach Jeremy Rowe said.
"There's always the cliches you don't win premierships in April, but I'm keen to get early wins on the board. You don't want to be playing the maths game and relying on other results.
"We play a game and then the competition has a bye for Easter weekend, so there is a lack of continuity at the start of the season.
"It (three practice games) should hopefully mean it doesn't affect us too much."
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MCUE will have a handful of players out, including Canberra players Dom Bunyan and Christian Palombi, but Rowe said three practice games will give everyone a chance to get enough miles under their belts.
"We are a bit light on this weekend but we're pretty bullish about our depth this year and it is exciting to see those guys who make up that depth have an opportunity to play a more major role than they would otherwise," he said.
"We're just really excited to play footy, playing this week was superb and probably the best couple of sessions we've put in since we've done more match simulation work.
"We'll sort some really basic goals that don't represent the scoreboard to make sure we look after."
Coolamon's new faces Shae Darcy and Allister Clarke, as well as Leeton-Whitton recruit Bailey Wood, will have their first hit out for the Hoppers in Saturday's clash with Thurgoona, which begins at Kindra Park at 12pm.
"They've been training with us for a while, but they'll get their first game to acclimatise to the boys," co-coach Mark Carroll said.
"We're not expecting big things, just to play their role in the team which is why we got them on board.
"They've fitted into our culture really nicely and it's just a matter of them doing their role and enjoying themselves.
"We haven't had a great deal of football the last couple of years. Usually a lot of blokes have to miss one due to other commitments so hopefully most of our boys will get two games in."
Narrandera will also host North Wagga on Saturday from 5pm.
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