"We are really comfortable with our preparation," Gower said on the eve of the club's season opener on Saturday.

"We do think we're better placed than where we were last year with our preseason."

The Raiders did fight back late against Kingborough in an opening five-wicket loss and clinged to a four-wicket victory over New Town the next week, but did not win a match again until round 9.

Despite a final-round win, the rookies scored just four wins, one draw and 13 losses in addition to losing outright twice to finish second last.

Gower said the club is all the better for the experience of its initial campaign.

"There was a lot of the unknown last year," he said.

"We didn't realise how big of a gap there was between NTCA first grade and that of the Premier League cricket.

"I do think we were all a little bit shocked by the way the gap has opened up over the years. The first few games last year took us by surprise.

"We were lucky enough to knock off New Town early in the piece, but it certainly was an eye opener to play against the quality of the opposition that we seemed to come up against every week."

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The Raiders' opening task does not come much harder than facing Clarence away.

The Roos were not only one of two sides that forced Gower's men to bat a second time, but they chased down 105 in their Twenty20 clash in remarkably just 43 balls.

Gower is feeling confident that the Raiders will improve after a stern preseason.

"The amount of work we've put in helps; we've done a lot of one-on-one stuff," he said.

"Just things like looking at players' techniques, their attitude is really more open, so we understand fully that we have to be up for the contest.

"We're not going to get those bad balls, so having a really good mindset about it and how to tick over the score will be the key. We know things like singles are critical in those first 15 overs - at times we thought were 20 to 30 runs short last season.

"If we can be more proactive with the bat, just be a little bit more courageous, take some more risks, get some more singles and just get off to better starts, I think you'll find this year we'll post some really competitive totals."

Captain Miles Barnard has had to be passed fit to play on Saturday after recovering from a leg injury late in NPL Tasmania soccer season.

Gower will have to wait another two weeks to include star allrounder Anish Paraam who flies in from Singapore.

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