The challenging months have passed and now the Narromine Jets are focused on a return to finals football.
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The Jets have been the most active Group 11 club so far this off-season, confirming a number of new signings while the first pre-season session was run on Tuesday.
The simple act of running around with his fellow players was welcome for captain-coach Dylan Hill after a year ruined by COVID-19 and the recent conjecture caused by the proposed merge between Group 11 and Group 10 clubs.
Narromine was one of the clubs in danger of missing out on a place in a western-wide competition but that's now not the case and it's been confirmed the 2021 Group 11 season will run as normal.
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All Hill's focus is now on next year and ending his side's finals drought.
"There's been a lot of unknown and the biggest thing was that uncertainty of what's going to happen next," Hill said.
"But now we do know what's going to happen next year so we're focused on that and on moving forward.
"I think we'd be disappointed if we don't make finals because we're setting high expectations for ourselves.
"The players we've got and the players we'rte recruiting have got that ability. It just comes down to determination and the effort at training."
The number of new signings and the return to training have created a huge amount of excitement at the club.
Hill is particularly pumped to see a number of experienced players and proven leaders agree to pull on the red and white.
Former Narromine captain-coach and representative player Luke Thompson has returned to the club in a major signing while Kurt Fuller is also coming back to the Jets.
Former Coonabarabran Unicorn PJ Stanton and Fijian Alexander Marr will also play under Hill next season.
"It's great to have Kurt back. I think he's the fittest I've seen him since about under 18s," Hill said.
"Then there's someone like Ryan Richardson and the break has allowed him to come back from an ACL injury so that's exciting too. It had some time to heal so that's a benefit.
"PJ Stanton has come across from the Castlereagh League and that's massive and Luke Thompson is a massive factor too.
"They are leaders so for me as coach I've got them there around me and they can help with the responsibility of the juniors."
The younger players at the club are the priority.
While there are some gaps in the squad Hill would like to see filled, the priority is on promoting players from within the club and Narromine community.
"Our focus is our juniors because we want a strong foundation and to bring through as many players as possible," Hill said.
"To have leaders and mentors around me is massive."
For now, the Jets are having fitness-focused sessions each Tuesday and Thursday before ramping things up after the Christmas and New Year's break.
"It's great to have the footy in hand again and be around training and just be around the boys," Hill said.
"Ideally we'd like more but it was the first session in 30-odd degree heat. We were happy with what we had and everyone there put in."