Is there a better way to kick off a new season than playing your local rival?
The Shepparton Swans will welcome Shepparton United to Princess Park on Saturday night in a mouth-watering round one contest.
Both teams will be full of fresh talent and after two years of football interrupted by COVID-19, they will be raring to go.
For the Swans, a fresh face in the coaches box is set to change the game and the men in red and white will certainly be looking to improve on last year’s ladder result.
New coach Andrew Riordan said the Swans were ready to go, with a young team excited to have a crack.
“We’re excited to get in to round one, it’s been a pretty big break there with (a) stop-start last year so the boys are pretty keen and we’re looking forward to playing a rival at home under lights,” Riordan said.
“We’ve got a few injuries at the moment like every club, most recruits will be playing and there’s a couple that are touch and go.”
Riordan said a couple of players who were injured over the break were slowly coming back, but the majority of the squad was ready to go.
“The two practice matches we’ve played were quite pleasing, we’ve done a lot of good things right, some things to work on but it really just starts now though in round one,” he said.
“It is exciting, all the hard work you do in the pre-season, you’re only doing to play home and away games.
“So we’ll be strong, we’ve got a lot of young guys and the majority of them are home-grown guys so I think they’re really excited to play senior footy and represent the club and hopefully there will be a big crowd there.”
Shepparton United is in a similar situation, with a young side keen to have a crack against a local rival.
United coach Paul Serra said two strong practice matches had given the Demons a good platform for the season.
“We’re looking forward to the unknown on Saturday night and seeing how we go,” Serra said.
“It’s certainly exciting for our boys because we’ve got such a young list, they really can’t wait for Saturday night, they’ve been looking forward to it for a long time.”
Serra said new signing Mitch Booth would be up and about, while captain Kyle Clarke will be looking to lead the boys on the field.
He said the club was looking forward to seeing a lot of guys debut and seeing how they went at the higher level.
“The supporters will just see a really committed effort to the contest, we’ll try and spread, we’ll try and move the ball quickly and that’s probably what our game style will be,” he said.
“I know a lot of people in the community are just looking forward to getting back to the footy so we are very excited at United to be over there at the Swans and we can’t wait.”
The Swans will host United on Saturday night, 6.35pm at the John Riordan Reserve.