Some big leaps were made last season in Cairns' own Tigerland and the Norths fraternity is confident of making up more ground this year despite the improvements of rival clubs.
Norths player-coach Kane Richter led his side to second spot in last year's regular season before being knocked out in the preliminary final by Manunda. Back for another tilt, their aim is to be better than that, even if the gap between the best and worst teams in the league is smaller this season.
"There was a big difference between I guess the top three and the bottom three for the most part of last season," he said. "No one wants it like that, everyone is trying to improve and catch up and clubs showed at the end of last season they already were. "But the vibe is good again (at Norths) and we want to go one step further."
Strengthening their side will be stoppage king and goal sneak Rex Liddy, while former Burnie Dockers midfielder Shaun Knott is likely to be a focal point for the Tigers this season. Burnie won the Tasmanian State League last season and Knott, who has also made his mark as a pace bowler for Mulgrave since moving north, has come with big wraps.
"We're trying to build a quality culture and that means recruiting quality people, not just coin chasers,"Richter said. Last season the Tigers looked the team most likely to rattle runaway favourties Saints, before falling away at the back end of the season. "We'll focus on our fitness," Richter said.
Teams will play a round-robin preseason competition at Cazalys tomorrow, with a grand final next weekend. Norths play Cairns City Lions on March 29 to open their season.
Last Modified on 04/04/2013 17:42