DEAKIN University will field a transformed line-up when it starts its Warrnambool and District league campaign against Kolora-Noorat tomorrow.
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Coach David Atkinson last night selected 10 players who did not feature in the seniors last season for the round one clash at Noorat Recreation Reserve.
The additions include a handful of first-year university students, as well as long-term Sharks who have played reserves in recent years.
Of the existing players, James Crawford will line up in the forward line, Lachlan Hulands is slated at full-back, while a fitter Ash Johnstone has an onball role.
Atkinson said he had been encouraged by the Sharks' lead-in to the season.
But he conceded his men, led by new captain Brien Roberts, faced a stern challenge to improve on their 2014 result with the new-look side.
"We've had some really honest conversations about our expectations off the field," he said.
"Our expectations aren't a win-loss record, it's not letting down your mates, working together to get something out of being here.
He said the Sharks had "a core group of a dozen of us who really found out what we couldn't do" during the summer.
"We said let's work hard to the extent we can't do it, which was a lot of fun pushing the limits," he said.
"We know you can run five laps. Let's see if you can run five laps and five more again, push to the point of fail basically."
Across at Kolora-Noorat, new coach Danny Finn named five new and returned players, headlined by assistant coach Matt Harkin.
Jake Richardson, Justin Hicks, Joe Conheady and Brent Goonan will also pull on the teal, black and white jumper this season.
Finn was likewise rapt with the Power's summer, but believed it would take a few weeks for the side to gel.
Mark Clissold, Luke Tebble, Luke Kenna and Tom Kenna will sit out the opening round with a view of pulling on the boots in coming weeks.
"In terms of what I want to bring to the table in how we play and how we set up, it's going to take a while to gel," Finn said.
"If you've got six players coming back into the team, come round four we'll start to hit our straps.
"It's going to be real exciting the way we want to play our footy. I don't mind how obvious we are about that, it's up to the opposition to stop us."
afawkes@fairfaxmedia.com.au