A debut NAB League campaign that was abruptly cut short by coronavirus will become a distant memory on Saturday when the state's best underage players begin season 2021 with a trip to Melbourne.

A 12.30pm clash with Gippsland Power will be sandwiched between same-day return flights as the Devils look to gauge their growth from last season.

"The improvement that they've had is sensational," Northern talent operations manager Nathan Warren said.

"We're only going off results from last year - in their two games they were quite heavily defeated - so we haven't locked in any wins or losses, just improvement on trainings, improvement on game structures and that's a big tick for us."

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The Devils met ex-TSL heavyweight Glenorchy in a pre-season practice match last weekend and took great confidence from a 40-point win.

Two-thirds of the 40-player squad took part in the match, with several Northern players among the standouts.

"Ella Maurer had a really good game, she's in our leadership group and kicked a couple of goals playing midfield," Warren said.

"Kelsie Hill had a great game off half-back and Maddie Brazendale on the wing was really good - she's a really great athlete - and Kara Hennessey up forward as a tall target played really well."

Wynyard star Olivia Smith will skipper the Devils in 2021, with Northern trio Maurer, Aprille Crooks and Jemma Blair among the leadership group.

Ex-North Launceston defender Blair, who will play with NTFA outfit Old Scotch in 2021, will serve under Smith as vice-captain.

"It was pretty exciting," Blair said.

"I definitely love getting around the girls, leading out them out and helping them on the ground and off the ground as well so I was pretty excited when I heard the news."

Blair said team morale was high heading into Saturday.

"A lot of the girls are very excited, they've been pumped at our previous trainings.

"The skill level has gone up a lot this year, we've got a great group of girls varying from different ages and backgrounds so hopefully we'll try and get a few wins."

Of Blair's teammates, most are aged 17 or 18 with another ex-Bomber Tunisha Kikoak (soon to be 16) the youngest.

Last season's co-captain Camilla Taylor (20) will move to Melbourne this month, splitting her time between Devils and North Melbourne's VFLW side.

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