Adam Scimone, who is expected to return as Mariners captain this year, said the club has retained a majority of the squad from 2017 but will welcome back an old face.

“Kenny McCall, who was overseas last year, is back, which is good to see,” he said.

“We’re back this week in pre-season. It’s looking good.”

McCall last played for the Mariners in 2016 and played 74 games and scored 11 goals for his team between 2013 and 2016. 

Scimone said the Mariners are also looking at a few players from Sydney, to make the move out west to play.

Overall, he said coach Andrew Fearnley is focused on making the team competitive.

“It’s just pretty simple,” Scimone said. 

“We just want to be competitive and not just making up the numbers, like the past few seasons. We’ve always had the squad to be competitive, so it’s all about having a good pre-season this week and we’ve got a few trials pencilled in.

“Every team is beatable in this competition and we’ve got a good team, we just need to start today.

“Hopefully we can get through pre-season injury-free and have everyone available.

“A lot of the boys have had their own fitness regime to stick to, so hopefully we can get into some ball work straight away and get our match fitness ready.” 

“It doesn’t matter what level you are, a good pre-season pays off.” 

Mariners will start the season at home, at Lithgow’s Marjorie Jackson Field, against Fraser Park on March 11. 

It’s a tough ask considering Fraser Park are coming off a grand final victory over Rydalmere Lions in September.

However, thanks to be the only team in the competition based outside of the Sydney metropolitan area,  Mariners have been allocated more home games.

Out of their 26 regular season games, 17 of their 26 games will be played in Central West region, with home venues in Bathurst, Lithgow, Orange and Mudgee.   

“That home ground advantage helps. Fairs fair, we’ve got to go to Sydney as well,” Scimone said.

“They’re obviously not use to our conditions, so we’ve got to play it to our conditions and put them to the test. A lot of the teams are using the synthetic pitches, so we’ll have to adapt. 

“Not travelling so far is good for us and puts the emphasis back on them for them to travel more.”

Scimone is also keen to play on Proctor Park, when the redevelopment is finished.

“I’ve been keeping a close eye on it. Shame it’s not going to be ready a bit sooner,” he said.

“100 per cent I’m keen to play on it. We’ve got a good mix of boys from Bathurst and Orange. We consider Bathurst to be one of our main homes.

“It’s looking good and hopefully the facilities keep to those standards. It helps, especially for the boys in Bathurst who grew up playing on it.

“It’s well deserved and it’s been a long time coming.”