Facing off against Bridgenorth in round one, the Saints will compete against the Parrots, Deloraine, Bracknell and Scottsdale for the association's under-21 title.

The solitary George Town team is being coached by Jason Sheppard and captained by 17-year-old Austin Maynard, who can't wait to lead the Saints again.

"We probably have more numbers in the under-21s than in the seniors and there's a lot more numbers that would want to play in that competition," he said.

MORE NTFA STORIES

"I'm pretty proud seeing as we are the only George Town team in there, I'll definitely be having my head high about it.

"I captained the under-18s last year but I'm excited this year to be doing it again."

When his side steps onto Rocherlea's oval, affectionately known as the Snake Pit, Maynard will lead a group featuring 10 players who played in George Town's senior outfit last season.

Henry Hodgetts, Lachlan Mason, James Long, Jonty Sheppard, Brandon Leary, Zayvier Quilliam, Miles Smith, Sam Freeman, Brandon Maynard and the skipper himself all played in the firsts, which coach Sheppard says is good for the club's future.

"There's so many [talented players], we have a great bunch of youth coming through our club at the moment through under-18s," Sheppard said.

"You just can't name one or two, there's probably 16 who could impress us."

Subscriptions are available here.

Sign up to our Sport email here.