MATT Dunn admits there are plenty of unknowns he will face in 2022 as coach of the under 18 St Pat's side, but what he does know is that he has talent, size and speed within his ranks to work with.
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Like the first grade Saints, this season the under 18s will be part of the new Peter McDonald Premiership. Not only will they take on fellow Group 10 based clubs, but now they'll face Group 11 sides in the battle for glory as well.
Those new rivalries, as well as the fact both Group 10 senior and junior competitions were cut short last year due to COVID-19, makes it hard to predict how the Saints will fare.
"It will be a bit of a difficult task, there will be a bit more travel and we're not as aware of some of the players and some of the teams, so doing your home work on those will be a bit harder," Dunn said.
"We follow first grade so we play Parkes in the first round, Dubbo in the second round, then Wellington later on in the season, all away games.
"Having not played finals last year in both age groups, 16s and 18s, you don't know what's around the corner. You know the sides that are there and thereabout, but then you can get kids moving to the area or swapping clubs."
The playing group Dunn has includes a number of talents who he coached last year as under 16s plus some Saints who are second-year under 18s.
It's a mix that Dunn is excited about and he's keen to see what they will be able to do in the new premierships.
"I've lost a few to apprenticeships and moving away which is a bit of a shame, but I've still got about eight or nine of them from last year, which is really handy," Dunn said.
"I'm still working on another couple, hopefully they'll be back, then a lot of the 18s who were here last year are back and there are a couple of new players.
"They sort of compliment each other well the returning 18s and I call them the 17s, there's a fair bit of speed and size. Hopefully they can gel well and it they do that and get it together out on the field, they should go okay."
Already from Dunn's outfit, both Ryan Smiles and Aden Stait are part of the Western Rams under 18s Laurie Daley Cup side while Henry Oates and Dylan Branda trained as part of Western's under 17s development squad.
Dunn also hopes to see Jack Branda, who is currently part of Manly Warringah's under 16s development squad, enjoy some game time with his under 18s.
The Branda brothers, although in different age groups, played plenty of football together in Group 10 juniors.
"Jack, he'll have to play 16s obviously first, but if he wants to back up he's more than welcome and I think he's keen to have a run with his brother," Dunn said.
"They have played together before, Jack played a lot of games up for us last year and the year before and even in the 14s when we only had 10 players, Jack used to back up for us nearly every week. He just does a job, he goes out there and is a whole hearted player."
The season starts the weekend of April 9-10.
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