With just five days until the season opener against the Gold Coast SUNS, Angus Baker says Canberra are ready to put their new learnings to the test.
Following a “long five months” of pre-season training, the 20-year-old defender said his teammates are eagerly awaiting their first challenge of the year.
“We started our pre-season campaign in November, it's been a long five months,” he laughed.
“We’ve gained some significant talent throughout the off-season and hopefully we’ll see that on Saturday afternoon.”
Following last year’s disappointing season opener against Southport, Baker says Canberra are eager to start the season right this time around.
“Last year we started the season really poorly,” he said.
"This year we want to come out of the blocks early and really cement our position in the top half of the table and push to go that one step further."
Baker said the prospect of running out against AFL-listed opposition in round one is an opportunity for Canberra to prove themselves against some of the NEAFL's best young talent.
"All the boys are super excited, we get to measure ourselves against the competition's best in the first round," Baker said.
“It’s going to be a real contest, they've added some real depth to there list during the summer so it'll be a hard fought contest, but one we've been preparing for."
Canberra clash with the Gold Coast SUNS this Saturday afternoon at Alan Ray Oval (12pm)