With no reserves at his disposal this season, Federal coach Steve Fouracre revealed he has between 18 and 24 players to pick from each week in what he's labelled "trying times" for the proud country league.

The Swans take on hometown rivals Corryong on Saturday and are unsure what to expect.

"We'll have to make two changes through guys unavailable, so we've got to find blokes to replace them," Fouracre said.

"Who they are at the moment, I have no idea.

"Obviously we need 20 to run out every week and it's no-one's fault, it's a great footy club and Corryong's a great footy club and both have a rich history, but I suppose it's more of a reflection of who is living in those communities now.

"It shows how thin footballers are spread across North-East Victoria in general.

"It's probably indicative that we've got four blokes up at Corryong and the other 16 travel from Wodonga."

The Swans are coming off a 186-point victory against Border Walwa in round one, while Corryong was heavily beaten by Tumbarumba.

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"It's always a big game against Corryong and it means a lot to the people that have been around both clubs for a long time," Fouracre added.

"We had five blokes make their senior debut for the footy club last week and two of them on top of the five were returning, so almost half the team hasn't played together before.

"We're not fielding a reserves team and from what I read, I think they (Corryong) had 13 players trying to play reserves on the weekend.

"I think depth for both sides is going to be testing throughout the year.

"It definitely makes it a lot more difficult (as a coach), in terms of player availability throughout the year.

"I suppose we've got to rely on a lot of luck in terms of players being available and blokes staying fit and healthy.

"I don't have the luxury with a list of 30-35 blokes to pick from every week, it comes down to who's available.

"I think we'll probably exhaust a lot of contacts this year and I'd say Corryong would be in a pretty similar position.

"It's just very difficult to attract footballers to that area."

Cudgewa will look to bounce back from last weekend's one-point defeat to Bullioh when it hosts Tumbarumba, while the Bulldogs will start clear favourites away to Border Walwa.