Kenna said a winter without football, brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, left the club with unfinished business.

"The pre-season we just went through was positive and the players committed well and I was pleased with their commitment to that so I would hope their enthusiasm is similar whenever that kicks off again," he said.

The non-playing mentor was denied a chance to lead the Bloods this year when the season was scrapped due to COVID-19 restrictions.

"As a first-year coach you didn't get to fulfill anything," he said.

"You know you did all the pre-season and practice matches and you're looking to the start of the season so you probably did half of it to a point without the real game stuff."

Kenna joins Adam Dowie (North Warrnambool Eagles), Chris McLaren (Koroit), Adam Courtney (Cobden), Neville Swayn (Camperdown), Gerard FitzGerald (Hamilton Kangaroos) and Jarrod Holt (Portland) in recommitting for next season.

MORE FOOTBALL:

The former Kolora-Noorat premiership coach said stability was crucial during an uncertain time.

"I am sure all clubs want their coaches shored up, no matter what grade, to work through what the next three to six months bring us," he said.

"It's not going to be a smooth, clear pre-season picture like it normally would I would imagine."

Kenna is hopeful the bulk of the Bloods' playing list will commit to next season.

"A lot of our players are area-based, there's not too many who travel to come back and play," he said.

"You always have some change for people's employment or university but I'd like to think 95 per cent of them would be playing again."

Kenna has a long-running connection to south-west football and described this rare football-free winter as "different".

He runs a 700-cow dairy farm which employees three full-time staff. Work has kept him busy.

"You have to adjust the best way you can I suppose," Kenna said.

"Work fills more of your time than what it would typically. It is just the nature of these times.

"You miss the social outlet of football-netball clubs and what they bring. I think everyone is missing that side of things."

Have you signed up to The Standard's daily newsletter and breaking news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in the south-west.