Foley confident Goannas have the talent to cover potential loss of De Sousa

However coach Nelson Foley is confident they will have the talent to cover the loss of Sam De Sousa if the ruckman decides not to return to the Goannas this season.

De Sousa made nine appearances at the back half of last season for the Goannas and he was named in their best on five occasions.

Foley said De Sousa was yet to make a decision on his plans for the upcoming season but he revealed the Goannas would be keeping the door open for him to return in 2024.

"We'd always like to have Sammy De Sousa at Mangoplah," Foley said.

"He's well and truly a Mangoplah man now but he's got plenty of other things going on in his life.

"He's just made a move down to Melbourne and he's setting himself up down there.

"We are fully understanding that life is much bigger than football and that's certainly the case with Sammy.

"But as I said to him the door is always open at Mangoplah and he'd be someone that everyone would love to see back at some stage in the future if that unfolded."

Tom Smith sits high on the list of possible replacements for De Sousa and Foley was confident that the emerging ruckman was ready to take on the job if required.

"We are really excited about what Tommy potentially has to offer this year," he said.

"He's had a really good taste of senior footy over the last couple of years and he has taken on some really big opponents especially last season.

"As is the case with a lot of our young list at the moment, we are really excited to see Tommy come on in leaps and bounds this year."

Smith has played 13 senior games so far at the Goannas after making his first grade debut in 2022 and Foley believed he would continue to develop with more opportunities presented to him in the upcoming season.

"He's someone who has really learnt the further he has gone along in his first grade career," he said.

"We see at AFL level all the way down to grassroots, it's probably one of the hardest positions on the ground to step up a level and find your feet at.

"With Tommy now having a good chunk of senior footy under his belt so far I think hopefully it will give him the confidence this year to come in and really hit the ground running.

"He's been great to work with over the pre-season so far and he's one of the people who always comes to me asking what else he can be doing."

Smith isn't the only player to have impressed Foley on the track as he said there's been some solid performers throughout the opening couple of weeks of their pre-season campaign.

"It's been a great couple of weeks on the track," he said.

"I've been really pleased and impressed with the effort and intensity that's been put in right across the board.

"We've had fantastic numbers from our senior players and also a really big group of our under 17's and juniors coming through.

"Tristan Wheeler and Charlie Spackman have been really dominant in the running and they are really starting to take on some leadership roles at the club.

"We've also had Zac Walker come along and he's been training the house down with us and been really impressive.

"Then Harvey Brown and Harrison Wheeler are some of the young 17's that are really looking to step up into senior footy this year.

"But I can't fault anyone and I'd love to rattle off 40 names to you as people that have been impressive because everyone truly has been."