Although the Hoppers originally planned to play Cupido alongside captain Dan Leslie inside 50m, Hodgson said yesterday he would keep his options open and use the left-footer in a variety of positions to find the best mix for the team.

Cupido started in defence in the intraclub match on Thursday night before being thrown onto the ball and finishing in attack.

Hodgson could be further tempted to play Cupido, with some of his leading running players from last year in Brad Horn, Kane Godde and James Brain moving interstate.

“He was pretty good first-up,” Hodgson said.

“Obviously he hasn’t done a lot of work yet ... but he had a couple of bursts which were unbelievable.

“He’s working hard on his fitness up and that will be a factor as to how much time he spends in the midfield.”

North Albury is hopeful of retaining Brandon Ryan.

Cupido was slow to start in the intraclub match before moving into the centre and turning in an electrifying 10-minute-mark burst on the ball.

He spent time in the midfield at West Adelaide last year.

Leslie showed he has lost none of his touch from last year by dominating the intraclub match against inexperienced opponents, while Kade Brown (ankle) was the only injury casualty.

North Albury takes on Albury in its opening preseason clash at the sportsground on March 6 with Hodgson looking forward to seeing more of his youngsters in action.

“We played 40 or 41 in the seniors last year because of injury and if we have that number again we will probably battle a bit,” he said.

“But if it’s 30 or so we should be somewhere in the mix.

“On paper we have a pretty good side as long as the injuries don’t hurt us too much.”