Ararat Redbacks will play Portland Coasters in the first round of the Country Basketball League

Ararat Redbacks coach Marcus Jenkins said he is eager to see how his team performs in the opening round.

"Last year we just got beaten by Portland (98-88), so it will be great to see where the boys are at and what myself and the coaching staff need to work on to get the team back into winning form."

The competition will be shorter than the previous season, with only six rounds preceding the finals in the South West Men's grade.

There are also only seven teams competing compared to the 11 that played in 2019/20.

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Jenkins said he anticipated this would elevate the quality of the matches.

"It will be a strong competition this season," he said.

"With fewer numbers in it you'd expect there will be closer scores. There won't be a huge gap between top and bottom I believe but you don't know how other teams have recruited."

The Redbacks finished second-last in 2019/20, despite winning five of their 14 matches.

Jenkins said he believes this season's squad is significantly improved.

"We've recruited well in the off-season to get a couple of extra players and add a bit of extra talent," he said.

"It helps with Zach (Zachery) Dunmore coming back. We've got a couple of locals returning as well with Josh (Joshua) Fiegert and Dillon Woods coming back into the mix, which is excellent for us.

"Realistically, with six teams in the competition and the top four playing finals, I'd like to be sitting second or third, fourth at the worst."

Jenkins also said Horsham's absence this season would further change the dynamic of the competition.

"It helps that Horsham aren't in the competition, because Horsham is the benchmark in our region for the competition."

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