Association vice-president Charles Aggenbach said Eden is never one to let pre-season talk get out too far “so they are always dangerous as you never know who could pop up and play for them during the season”.

“If Eden gets the players back who I’ve heard they are talking about, and get them on the park along with club stalwarts Drew Mudaliar and Tim Bowes – and if wicket-taking machine Tyrone Thomas plays – Eden could be right up there,” Aggenbach said in his season preview.

“Also look to the club to bring up some promising juniors this season.”

News out of Tathra is that it has a new skipper much younger then the all the other captains

“It looms as a different season for Tathra with key premier player Adam Blacka not getting any younger,” Aggenbach said.

“His back injury and old age could be a factor, however Tathra veterans come out of the woodwork when needed so this could mean Geordie Gibbs, Ben O’Reilly and 2017/18 leading run scorer Pete Bennett will look to continue to steer the ship to help out the young skipper.”

A key loss for Tathra is Chris Dwyer, who is now applying his trade in the Canberra competition.

Bega/Angledale is back in first division and will be looking to compete straight away when it takes on defending second division premier Wolumla.

Bega’s side is much different to the one that played last year with a couple of up and coming youngsters and a couple of associations stalwarts they could be in for good season.

“Talk going around is Rob Stevenson is back at Bega, so his experience and guidance with the young Bega team will be key, and with speed demons Heyhorn and McIntosh with the ball, anything’s possible for Bega this season,” Aggenbach said.

Youngster Zac Harlow has decided to register for Merimbula this season and will be a key out for Bega.

Wolumla as second division champion from last season steps up for the first time in a few seasons and will look to get off to a good start against Bega.

Wolumla’s season will come down to the likes of Ross Oldham, Tom Adams, Tim Hodgkin and Lachlan Hawkins.

The Pambula Bluedogs could be shaping up as the competition dark horse with word on the street they have a couple of club stalwarts coming back to play to boost their already strong young side.

“If rumours are true and the likes of Tim Wilson and Shane Garrett come back for the Bluedogs, that will boost not only their bowling attack with their top order already having the likes of Tom Hammond,  Charlie Shepherd, Dylan Cook and gun young batsmen Zak Keogh that’s a scary top six for any bowling attack to deal with,” Aggenbach said.

Merimbula will be out to get back to the top of the tree again. However, it’s dealing with a couple massive outs – captain Dylan Jordan playing in Orbost and Patrick Whittard out with a broken hand. The younger core Merimbula group will definitely have to stand up.

Bermagui will hit off the season with a cross-border trip, with Mallacoota entering a side in the top division for the time in a few seasons. Not much talk out of Bermagui so far this off-season aside from the building of some state-of-the-art training nets there.

“What you do know is with this club, after struggling for a couple of seasons, they are committed and always turn up and give it a go.

Mallacoota will be competitive force with usual suspect Paul Preston and others up and about. It will also have access to a few past Eden players who will help them even more. Mallacoota is up there in spirit but will depend on who shows up week in, week out, to shape where it finishes this season.

A big season starts up for the most northern first division team this weekend when Southern Eurobodalla takes on the unknown Kameruka side who will make the long trip up the highway.

The Pirates will look to two club stalwarts with the bat – old Father Time Dean Friskin and Simon Mackie who is still unregistered and could be a big out if he doesn’t play this weekend or season – and the wicket machine Nick Mason if available (with work and a baby on the way).

Kameruka has also taken the step up into the top division for the first time in a few seasons. It has one of the better looking grounds in the association at Lord’s View, but where it’s likely the most sixes hit this season will occur, which shall be entertaining for anyone willing to go watch.

Kameruka will be led by a key player in Jack Matthews with the ball, who can also be quite handy with the bat. Its season will come down to who it gets on the park week in and week out.

All games are on this Saturday, October 13, from 1pm.