A long-serving Macquarie United player who has captained the side in recent seasons, Osborne has taken over the top job from Paul Crain ahead of the new campaign.

Crain will still be around the club and will work closely with Osborne ahead of what both describe as a "rebuilding year" in the WPL.

After winning the minor premiership and finishing runners-up in the maiden edition of the reborn WPL in 2020, Macquarie United was outside of the finals places last year when the competition was abandoned due to COVID-19.

READ ALSO:

- Fox ready to excel in new role as build-up begins for the Bulls

- Cahill's college deal proof of Spurs' success and quality of WPL

- Quicks and Keen's class decide a derby battle filled with 'positive banter'

Key players like Cameron Kopp and Connor Crain have left the club since last year, and Osborne said there will be a real focus on the talented batch of juniors Macquarie United has coming through this year.

"Obviously you play any team sport to win and be successful but I think our success this year will be based on being competitive," Osborne said.

"A lot of the guys who have played in our WPL team the last few years have been quite ambitious and have gone on to play in some bigger leagues.

"This year we've got some good juniors coming in and some are just turning 16, so they are young but they're eligible to play senior football now so that's the aim, to give them the exposure to it."

While there will be plenty of talent for Osborne to work with this season, getting those younger players up to speed with the demands of a high-quality senior regional competition will be a challenge.

"There's a lot of boys who have played at high level in juniors, playing for teams like NSW Country, so technically and skill-wise definitely, but it's just the physical nature of it," Osborne said of whether the younger players are up for it.

"Myself and Paul and some other coaches have just got to give them that warning and grounding so they know what they're up against. But they've seen it in trials and training, it's a lot more physical.

"They might be the best players in their age group but it's much different when you come into the senior set-up."

A core group of players does remain with the side while Osborne could also return to the field should he able to overcome ongoing knee and ankle injuries.

Goalkeeper Bryce Deaton and players like Justin Sutton and Brad Matiuscenko will provide valuable experience while Isaac Skinner and Brookyln Crain also have a couple of years of WPL under their belts now.

A number of other new faces are also expected to join the side this season, and they will get the chance to gel in a number of pre-season matches in the coming weeks.

An an exciting move for the club, Macquarie United has nominated for the 2022 Australia Cup (formerly FFA Cup).

The national knockout competition, which features A-League clubs in the later rounds, kicks off next month and Macquarie United is set to play in round one on the weekend of March 13 and 14.

"It's something we've thought about doing for a couple of years but never have so we decided to bite the bullet and do it," Osborne said,

"It will be a great experience and an additional trial against a team outside of the area."

Macquarie United will then kick-off the 2022 WPL season with a round one clash against Dubbo rivals Orana Spurs on the weekend of April 2 and 3.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: