Walder returned to Anzac Park after nearly 20 years away but has been warmly welcomed back.

"It's a good feel to welcome me back with open arms. It's been nearly 20 years, but there's still some familiar faces there. And obviously, offspring of familiar faces that I played with and rubbed shoulders with in the past," Walder said.

"That's the beauty of the footy clubs. This community base, and all the people there are there for each other and the club.

"It's all hands on deck, and they love the place."

Walder has been busy getting to know the squad as he builds them up for round one.

"The big challenge is to quickly develop this group, improve them and make a rise," Walder said.

Being largely a young playing group, Walder has bought in some experienced players to provide some leadership and direction.

"We recruited some boys from interstate and even some ex-local boys that shifted to Melbourne and Geelong. A couple of them agreed to come home again, which is good," Walder said.

"That bolstered the experience side of things; we knew that was a bit of a hole in the list," Walder said.

Charlie Wilson has returned from Melbourne, whilst Jai Kovatseff, Jayke Hellmanns, Tyson Hunt and John Martin have moved from South Australia.

Wilson impressed through the midfield and forward line on Saturday, March 23, as the Eagles faced Wycheproof-Narraport in a practice match.

Lachie Stewart and Kyle Cheney also pulled on the maroon and gold, whilst Walder highlighted the impact of youngsters Connor Inkster and Charlie Dean.

"He's had a pretty big pre-season. He utilised his body and vigour pretty well on Saturday," Walder said of Dean.

Warrack has another practice match on Saturday, April 6, as they put the final preparations on round one.

"We've just got to integrate the group as much as we can, and get them to come together as quickly as we can. That's probably the biggest challenge."