While the NTFA season will see no football played before at least May 31, teams are still mentally preparing for their shots at glory.
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In the sixth of a series of previews,The Examiner looks at Old Scotch's women's side, who were competitive in their first season and are looking to hold their ground.
Coach: Nic d'Emden.
Captain: TBA
2019 finish: Seventh - three wins, seven losses
ELSEWHERE IN SPORT
Ins: Deb Reynolds (Launceston), Ella McKenzie (North Launceston), Myra Donnelly (North Launceston), Waverley McIlroy, Maddie Pitt.
"We've had an influx of new girls come in this year, I think we have about 13 or 14 that have come down which has been fantastic," d'Emden said.
"That's been a range of girls that have never played before - we probably have five or six that have come from other sporting codes, mainly netball and touch footy and then there's six or seven who have played elsewhere.
"Deb Reynolds is a fantastic asset to me from a coaching point of view. She just brings a lot of experience and knowledge and the girls have really excelled with her down there so that's great."
Outs: Georgia Nicholas (University), Elizabeth Randall (UK), Katie McMullan (UK).
Who's impressed: "There's a couple of the new girls that have been great but a couple of the girls that played last year that are still young [have performed].
"We've had Hannah Youl, who's been really good and Sarah Giles has been fantastic as well. They are two of the younger girls who have taken a step up during the pre-season."
OTHER PREVIEWS
Coach says: "For us it's on continued improvement - we're a young side.
"I think there are a couple of strong teams in the comp. I think South Launceston will probably be pretty strong again and Bridgenorth have picked up some real quality players from other teams so I would classify them and South as the two strong, quality teams.
"Whether we can match them on our day, you never know but the rest of the competition I think, obviously last year you had Evandale and Scottsdale who were strong as well, but the rest were pretty even.
"Last year I would have backed us to play finals if it wasn't for an uneven roster - there were some teams playing some sides three times and others once and the roster wasn't conducive to a fair result.
"I don't think we were ever going to win the premiership in our first year but it would have been lovely to play finals but it didn't work out that way and that's footy.
"Finals would be ideal but I just want to see the girls having fun, enjoying it and improving their skills which is what happened last year and I'd love to see a continuation of that.
"We've been really fortunate that a mate of mine has an online fitness program - the 28 by Sam Wood - so he's given all our girls a six-month access to that which has been fantastic."
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