Griffith Blacks coach Chris McGregor said the side was eager to make their return, having watched the lower grade and women's play last weekend.

"I think everyone is very keen we had 60-70 odd at training last night, which is fantastic numbers," he said

"The seconds had a run on the weekend and played really well, so they started along with the girls."

Having had such a long break between seasons due to the pandemic, McGregor said there is a really good feeling around the club at the start of the season.

"I think the boys and girls are just happy to be back around each other and around the club again and sort of adding some normality back in life," he said.

"There is a really good vibe around the club, and everyone seems to be enjoying it."

The first-grade side has played a couple of preseason games against Dubbo and Temora, picking up good results, and McGregor is happy with the way his side is heading.

"They were more about getting blokes back out on the field and blowing the cobwebs out," he said.

"There is still some things to work on, but we are heading in the right direction."

This weekend, the Blacks will take on Waratahs, who are coming into the clash off the back of a 46-0 win over Ag College and McGregor knows it will be a tough task on Saturday.

"They are well structured, and they lead the competition in that regard," he said.

"I watched their game against Aggies on the weekend, and they were very well drilled, which is typical for a Tahs side, but they are definitely beatable."

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The Blacks coach has set the goal of reaching finals as an absolute minimum for not only the first-grade sides but also the other three senior grades.

"Finish top four initially, but we are there to win a premiership," he said.

"For the whole club, this year, all grades should be playing finals footy. If we aren't, then I think we have let ourselves down as a club.

"With the numbers that we have got and the good mixture of young blokes and old blokes, we should being playing finals in all four grades and hopefully winning premierships in all four grades that's what the main goal is, but there is a lot of steps there before that."

Heading into their first game of the season, McGregor says there will be a few new faces lining up in the black.

"It's going to be a good mix of youth and experience. There will be a couple of new faces in there," he said

"There will probably be five blokes representing club either out of the juniors or that are new to the club.

"We have got some fairly handy boys we just have to make sure it gels on the field."

The action will get underway at Wade Park at 12pm, with the third-grade side playing their first game of the season with seconds to follow at 1.10pm.

The ladies will kick off at 2.20pm with the main game kicking off at around 3.15pm.

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