CKS Swifts will open their season and hopefully their account tomorrow when they meet Natimuk at their home ground, North Park.

The Baggies have endured a tough preseason this year in the hope of being ready for their first round clash.

Natimuk United will have some critics out there that they will want to prove wrong, so there will be some fire in the belly for both sides.

"Anything can happen in the first round, so we are a little nervous, but we are still confident. I guess time will tell," joint coach Ben Martin said.

CKS Swifts, under the guidance of joint coaches Ben Martin and Paul Hanns, have predominantly based their training around running in order to improve their cardiac ability.

Apart from running, the players have also worked on their skills and some structural issues, which they tested for the first time in their practice match against Beaufort.

"We've really worked hard on an 18 man zone defence and also our kick in and against Beaufort, it worked almost every time," Ben Martin said.

New players to the club this season Josh Molan, Julian Carr and Luke Mitchell will have some work to do to fill the void of missing key positions such as Liam Nuske when they play their first game. However they were not available for selection this week.

To assist in replacing the omitted players are young guns Rory Jones, Josh Newton, Ryan Folkes and Matt Healy, along with Luke Cowen.

Although not willing to say now which of those players would make their debut, both coaches are extremely happy with the progress they have made over the off season and hope their development will continue throughout the year.

"At the end of the day there are probably 30 odd players that could get named and for the eight that miss out they will be very unlucky," said Martin.

In comparison to previous years, Martin thinks they are on track with their skills and ahead with their fitness after a long preseason.

"I think this is probably the best we have looked for some time at the start of the year. We are really in high spirits for the year ahead," he said.

"We have been ticking all the boxes. We asked for commitment and we've got that. Now we just need to put in in place on the weekend."

The CKS Swifts have broken down their season's goals and although wanting to go as deep as they can through the finals, their first goal is to win their first game.

It has been several years since Swifts started their season in winning fashion.

CKS Swifts had a light week on the track this week to ensure that they had their strongest team available for selection last night.

Ahead of their first game Ben Martin is ready to tackle any obstacles after already having a season of coaching under his belt.

Prior to the bounce of the ball Martin will remind players to do the basics right and for each of them to play their role within the team.

"If the boys know what is required, there is no reason why we shouldn't win," Martin said.