“There has certainly been a turnover of players but we are fairly confident withe the blokes we’ve got,” he said.

“There are a lot of young kids who will get a fair dinkum go this year and we’ve brought some experience back as well.

“We’ve lost some good players but we had plenty depth – that will be more of a challenge this season but I’m looking forward to it.”

Simon Hobbs, Tyler Blake, Joel Geue, Jeremy Hartigan and Billy Lloyd are just some of the side’s premiership stars that have left the club along with the now retired Luke Carr.

Brodie Mines and Dylan Bushy have joined the club from Pimpinio while the return of premiership coach Jordyn Burke will aid Roberts in his first year as senior coach.

“He has already helped me out a lot because he has played with higher game plans and structures that we will be able to implement,” Roberts said.

“His presence on the field is going to be even bigger I think but he is just going to be another part of our team.”

Roberts said the key would be for his key to be ready and raring to go for round one.

“We were cherry ripe at the start which allowed us to win those early games,” he said.

“We’ve been doing enough work but it’s about getting all the blokes in at once.”

Who has set the standard on the track during preseason?

I don’t really want to pick out one bloke and put pressure on them but the blokes we’ve brought in have been handy. The young kids have been really good as well – they’ve competed really well in the running drills and their skills are starting to come along. I’m confident they’ll make an impact in the senior team.

How does losing so many players effect your style?

We’re probably going to be bigger than we have been but there are also running players who won’t have had the opportunity to prove themselves this season – they will get that chance this season. We’re going to be able to blood some new players as well while blokes who are around the 50-game mark will continue to improve.

What are the goals for 2018?

I don’t think there is a ceiling for us. I think we have the cogs there to play finals and its just about everyone getting that extra one percent out of themselves. I need to back up my first season of Wimmera League and be even better. Our leadership group is new as well and they need to take the extra step to cover some of the blokes we’ve lost – it builds some more pressure on the younger guys but it should be good because they have to do it eventually as they are the future of the club.