EVANDALE will take on Meander Valley Suns in their NTFA division 2 season opener under lights at Morven Park tonight.
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Country Eagles coach James Conroy said his side was looking forward to the clash after a long pre-season.
"Hopefully we can get a good crowd down there and put in a good performance," Conroy said.
"We have a lot of people putting their hands up for selection so it won't be an easy task this week."
Daniel Newton and Tim Walker will miss.
Conroy said it was hard to know where other teams were at but they were confident of playing an exciting brand of football and getting a win first up.
Meander Valley coach Josh Bennett said his side was also keen to get started and expected Evandale to be one of the top sides this season with their recruits.
"It will be a good starting point to let us know where we are at and where we have to get to," Bennett said.
The Suns have a full list, apart from James De Boer, who is unavailable.
"They will be tough opposition first up but we're looking forward to it and expect a good run," Bennett said.
Old Scotch host Old Launcestonians at the NTCA Ground having lost a number of players from last season.
Thistles coach Kim Curtis said the club had lost about 29 depth players and nine senior players from last year's premiership.
"We will be right with what we've got and we will be competitive," Curtis said.
"Our senior list is still quite strong but we have four out in Bali this week and a few guys will get their first senior games this week.
"We're a bit underdone and haven't had any practice matches either but hopefully we will improve and get stronger as we go and at the right end of the season."
Adam Docking, Alex Saunders, Jason Zadow and Chris Hughes are all unavailable and Robert Gilligan has moved to Hobart and won't be playing.
Old Launcestonians coach Gene Savage said the Blues were keen to get started.
He said they would consolidate their player numbers over the first few rounds with a few unavailable first up.
"There has been a fair bit of player movement for everyone over the off-season and it will take a while to get a handle on where everyone is at until you have played them," Savage said.
Tamar Cats will play St Pats with coach Wayne Kirby saying his charges were enthusiastic and keen to play.
He expected it to be a good challenge playing last year's runners-up and said his players had taken on board their new game plan and worked hard.
Simon Dingemanse, Tom Murfett, Liam Shegog and Simon Edmunds are all unavailable.
St Pats coach Jake Lowe said the Saints would have the depth to field a team despite the last-minute roster change instead of the bye.
Lowe said Lenny Duncan and Simon Lindsay would miss but some others were available to come back for selection, including Liam Reynolds and Chris Hay.
Perth takes on Uni-Mowbray at Perth and coach Damian Rhind said his players were keen to try to get a win on the board.
Rhind said Uni would be favourites but the Magpies would take the challenge up to them on their home deck after being competitive against St Pats for three quarters.
He said they continued to adapt to a new game plan and structures and were working hard but some players had late starts, which put them four to five weeks behind where they should be.