Having struggled for numbers in 2019, the club was granted an exemption by the association that allowed them to field a B Grade and C Grade team without an A Grade one.

The Eagles B Grade side had a reasonably strong season, only missing out on finals by two points and maintaining a positive percentage.

After adding some recruits, the club had been confident of having an A Grade side for the following season but was denied the chance to play due to COVID-19.

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However, the Eagles have been busy recruiting since the last time they took to the court.

Their new players include Marissa Savige, Taryn Wilde, Katherine Velthuis, Annie Felini, Jaz Warren, Lilly Molloy, and Tess Marrow.

Eagles coach Olivia West said she and co-coach Natalie Coghlan would not make any snap judgments about which grades players should be in with so many new faces.

"We're got an A and B Grade squad, so the teams aren't fixed straight away, we can bring players up and down," she said.

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"We'll work together to determine whose going to be in what spots until we settle."

West is also starting her first season at the club and will be playing as well as coaching.

She won four A Grade premierships with Ararat Rats a player and won a B Grade premiership as a player-coach.

West said it would take some time for herself and the rest of the new players to find their feet.

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"Being new to this league, I'm not sure what the competitions like. So it's going to be week to week for me," she said.

"Consistency and teamwork are what we want from our players at this point. Because it's new people coming together, we've got to learn to gel with each other.

"We just want to put two good, consistent senior teams together and go out and have fun."

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