The desire to release all of the frustrations and avenge the shock TSLW grand final - and last year's only - loss has subsided over the past nine months since Launceston was left hurt and weeping in the middle of Bellerive Oval.
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So much so coach Angela Dickson said the philosophy at Windsor Park has changed.
Amid the number of weeks apart heading towards what would have been the season opener, the coronavirus outbreak has invigorated a new love for the game rather than just prolonging their agony.
"For us, this year is not about revenge. We know we were a very strong team and bar one game, we also had a brilliant season. We're still very proud of the type of year we had," Dickson said.
"With everything that has all gone on with COVID-19, this year we pretty much just want to have some fun. We just want to play footy for fun.
"Really in the big scheme of things, we wouldn't be playing as our season wasn't starting until mid-May.
"We just want to play and if it means we're still winning games, so be it, but if we're losing games, we're not going to be too fussed. We just want to have fun and being around each other again.
"Not being able to train with the group has made a lot of us realise, I guess, how much we just love the game."
That fresh approach has carried into four changes in the Blues' leadership group.
The biggest inclusion has been that of newly appointed captain Dearne Taylor.
It has capped a meteoric rise for the consistent star entering a third TSLW season.
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"She has stood up through preseason with taking charge at training," Dickson said.
"She is also pushing girls to better themselves, keeping things up with their fitness and skillwise during all this COVID, so she definitely has been someone who was also leading from the front."
Claire Croker-McManus, Makenna Hillier and Jennifer Guy join Taylor new to the group along with seasoned veterans Georgia Hill, Hayley White and Daria Bannister, who brings three years in the AFLW to the vice-captaincy.
"It is all based on previous years of experience, us trying to add some youth and new faces into our group as well, which will hopefully better us in two to three years' time and still have leaders of the football club," Dickson said.
Two picked for leadership stand out more than others that from the outside appears to have come out of the blue.
Makenna Hillier, who is just 17, was named to appeal to lost young teammates that can turn to one of their peers.
Croker-McManus, on the other hand, was selected without even playing a single game for the Blues on what appears to be a real journey.
"The presence she brings is of someone travelling in from St Helens twice a week before all COVID restrictions came in place just to be a part of the group," Dickson said.
"She is just someone, who brings so much enthusiasm and a team-first attitude.
"So it was pretty obvious straight away from her arriving at the club that whether or not she was given the title of the leader, she was always going to be a leader in one form or another."
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Andrew Mathieson
The day I realised I wasn't good enough to play for St Kilda or be the No.1 spinner for Australia was when I realised journalism was the closest I could come to follow my passion for sport. And it's not just about the scores for me. It's the back story behind the game.
The day I realised I wasn't good enough to play for St Kilda or be the No.1 spinner for Australia was when I realised journalism was the closest I could come to follow my passion for sport. And it's not just about the scores for me. It's the back story behind the game.
