THE Hamilton Kangaroos hit the track for their first official pre-season session on Wednesday with reasonable numbers converging on Melville Oval.

Senior coach, Hamish Waldron, was joined by reserves coach, Hugh Douglas, and Under-18.5 coach, Luke Uebergang, along with 20-30 players to kickstart their 2023 Hampden Football Netball League (HFNL) campaign preparation.

Waldron said the later start would hopefully benefit the group and was glad to get everyone back together again.

“Good to see them back here, it is always exciting when pre-season starts,” he said.

“It still feels like it’s winter, so hopefully the weather improves.

“Last year I jammed in a few sessions before Christmas, so just cut that back a bit to keep them more engaged.

“They never come back after the Christmas break as when they left, so obviously touching the footies is the main thing at this stage.”

With alternating weeks of two and three sessions in the lead-up to Christmas, it is an important period for the club, as it looks to build on the six-win seventh-placed 2022 campaign.

Waldron said changing the sessions up would again be important, as the team pursues an inaugural HFNL finals appearance.

“We will change up the venues, do some stuff off the ground, head down to the gardens and some stuff down at the lake as well,” Waldron said.

“I blooded nine Under-18s players last year and there were a few who played well in the final last year, so hopefully they can take the next step and it is exciting.

“We took some good steps forward last year and I would be disappointed if we can’t build on that and take another step.”

The club is still talking to some possible recruits for the upcoming season, and is hoping to have them locked away soon to build on the momentum following the club’s Under-18.5 and senior women’s premierships in 2022.