Devils football manager Craig Notman is optimistic the program is already working - despite just four wins - since joining the NAB League after a 17-year hiatus.

"If you're competing week in, week out against the best of the best, you know what you're up against," he said.

"Sometimes when you're only playing division 2 stuff, you get a bit of diluted of how well your competition is.

"The boys now know what they are competing against and I think this year that's a huge learning tool for them coming through. They're top division 1 players and that's what you're playing against in the NAB League.

"It's kids that are Vic Metro and Vic Country, and they're right at the top of the tree in a draft sense where the bulk of the talent comes from."

The Devils strung together a young group that includes key forward Jackson Callow, who has played the bulk of the season as a 16-year-old, firming his chances further for the 2021 AFL draft.

North Launceston teammate Rhyan Mansell, at 19, is one of the few who fills the other end of the scale after narrowly missing the radar of AFL clubs last year.

North Hobart midfielder Mitch O'Neill looks a draft certainty from his under-18 All-Australian selection that also delivered an invite to the elite national combine.

Lauderdale's Nic Baker and Clarence's Ollie Davis are also strong contenders.

"I think we have probably been a little bit light on in the 18-year-old role bracket this year, which we knew going into this year," Notman said.

"Mitch has an opportunity to go the national combine, but we're hopeful we'll get more in the state combine.

"When we talk about the completion of the year, we got to make sure of the opportunity the boys have got.

"It only takes one game to prick the attention of one AFL club to get yourself across the line in the draft - you eek out every opportunity you can get with each game.

"What we have been really impressed with is the quality of the depth of the under-17 group coming through."