The side came up short in it's hunt for a Western Premier League title last year, but managed to secure bragging rights in the Dubbo and District title bout by taking down the Dubbo Bulls' 4 - 1.

Spurs' longtime senior men's coach, Stephen Tongue, who led the side to grand final appearances in the local competition in the last two years, has stepped back from his leadership role, but the team won't lack experience, with long-term team captain Jared Corby stepping up to take on the senior leadership role.

"I'm excited," Corby said in response to the added responsibility.

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"It's something where you just have to be committed, we'll need the boys to be as well, obviously, but that's the main part is making sure we're all committed and ready."

Last year's Western Premier League saw Corby and the Spurs suffer losses they could have done without, but lower numbers due to COVID and a string of injuries and suspensions were three big reasons he outlined for the disappointment at the tail-end of the season.

With restrictions relaxing, numbers at pre-season training have already picked up, with a bigger pool of potential players providing a buffer against some of last year's challenges that taxed the squad.

"We started pre-season recently, the numbers have been up quite a bit from last year, which is good, obviously COVID was hard last year and put a damper on things, but it's always good to have more players to pick from," Corby said.

"With the more players coming on and that bigger pool, hopefully we'll be able to juggle a few players up and down between the competitions as we need to, then if we can avoid some of those injuries and suspensions that piled up last year, we should be sweet."

While Corby was glad to have the player numbers back up after a trying year, it's still a little too early to determine who exactly will make up the bulk of the squad come game-time, with plenty more time training on the pitch before a final call is needed and the season begins in earnest.

"It is still really early, I can't single out one lone player right now, but we're seeing more commitment from everyone, that's the biggest step forward for now, especially after a disappointing first year back in the premier league," Corby said.

"We know we have the ability to be up there with the best teams, last year definitely wasn't our year, but the injuries played a big factor in that, hopefully this year we can start getting the same team on the park every week and then build from that."

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