Rivals Kempsey Saints and the Macleay Valley Rangers women's sides will enter the 2019 season in a similar situation.
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The two teams have had their fair share of player turnover, but the club's respective coaches, Amy O'Brien for Saints and Emma Tamblyn for Rangers, both admit their recent success has put added pressure on the sides to perform at a high level.
Saints were the minor premiers last year while the Rangers found their best form in the finals series and claimed a 1-0 grand final win over Port United.
Saints were also grand finalists in 2017 and claimed the premiership in 2016.
"There's definitely more pressure on both our sides," Tamblyn said.
"The other teams will expect more of us and will see us as the team to beat after winning the premiership last year.
"They will turn up knowing they need to play at their best which means we won't have any easy games."
Despite the high expectations from opposition teams, O'Brien and Tamblyn have kept their own goals low.
"We want to focus on improving our performances from last year and in particular our passing game," O'Brien said.
"Rangers set the bar with their ability to control the ball last season and we are hoping to get better in that area this year.
"Hopefully on the back of that, we will reach the finals series."
Tamblyn also agreed the finals will be Rangers' target for this season.
After fielding two teams for the last two seasons, Saints have made the decision to field one side in the women's competition this year.
"We had around 22 players this year so it would have made it hard to field two sides," O'Brien said.
"We decided to field one side and just have a really deep squad. It will allow players who have other commitments to take a week off here and there without feeling guilty about it.
"The side we have now is made up of both teams from last year and we are looking really strong."
Meanwhile Tamblyn will take the reins from younger sister Heidi, who coached the side last year.
"Heidi will be very hard to replace but we have gained a couple of new players," Tamblyn said.
"A few players have returned to the club after some time away, including Shelby Coleman, and we still have the rest of the key players from last year."
Both teams will start their season off on the road this Saturday as the Rangers will battle the Upper Macleay Yowies while the Saints will clash with the Wauchope Waratahs. Both games kick off at 1pm.
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