Maitland Magpies goalkeeper Matt Trott is in no doubt the Magpies have the lineup to be the first side to claim the premiership and grand final double since Edgeworth achieved it in 2016.
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The Magpies kick off their campaign on Sunday when they travel to take on 2019 grand final conquerors Edgeworth in their opening game of the 13-round competition.
"A strong start is really important, a good result against Edgeworth will give us momentum from the start," Trott said at Cooks Square Park on Thursday when he offered the safest hands in the business to hold the Northern NSW NPL Premiers trophy for a photo shoot.
Maximum points on Sunday will not erase the disappointment of the 2-0 grand final loss to the Eagles, but it will give the Magpie all important momentum to start the shortened year.
"We've got Edgy first up, which is a tough one, but after that we've got the bottom half teams from last year," said Trott who at 35 is planning to end a career which included playing in the A-League with Central Coast Mariners.
"If we can get a good result this weekend it rolls us on to the next three or four games which are against the mid to lower ranked teams and we can get a bit of momentum towards that back end.
"Once that match fitness builds we can play the stronger teams in the back end of the first part of the season and hopefully we will be well placed for the final third when the comp splits."
All teams play each other once in an opening nine rounds and the competition will be split in two for a further four rounds of games before a five-team finals series.
Trott said no one at the club was shying away from the goal of securing the league and grand final double this year.
"We've got pretty much the same team, if not stronger this year. The expectation is to win the league and go on and win the grand final," he said.
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Last season's NPL golden boot Braedyn Crowley with 16 goals has joined the Magpies from Lambton and the front third will be further electrified by the inclusion of Matt Comerford who has not played since July 2018 when he injured his knee.
Crowley, who played in the A-League with the Jets and Mariners, has won the respect of the entire club with his work ethic, unselfish play and combination with fellow striker Joel Wood, Comerford and young gun Jimmy Thompson.
"Crowley is such a good player, he is going to add so much to us this year. We had a 15-goal a season striker with Woodsy and now we have two," Trott said.
"Because of his reputation over the last few years Crowls is attracting two or three players all over him every time he gets the ball. It helps bringing the guys like Jimmy Thompson and even Woodsy who is playing a bit further out wide this year into the game.
"If he is getting taken out of the game, Bolchy can take him out wide and bring Woodsy straight into the middle so we're not losing anything there.
"There's versatility all over the park, especially in that front third. it's going to be hard to control for everyone else this year.
"We've got so many potential goals in us this year. I think that front third will be unplayable on some days."