They were widely tipped to challenge defending AWFA league and cup champions Wangaratta, but never got to play a game.

Coach Andrew Grove caught up with The Border Mail to discuss his side's 2021 prospects.

BEAU GREENWAY: You started pre-season training on Thursday night, is that earlier than normal?

ANDREW GROVE: We're just getting back one night a week for now for a bit of a kick to get things started because guys haven't touched a ball for a while. We normally start in November-December, so it's not much different. We might look at a few more pre-season games early next year because the fitness will be lower than in the past.

BG: You've already expressed some interest in the AWFA's proposed midweek FFA Cup-style knockout competition next year?

AG: A lot of the guys like playing night games. A couple will have a bit of an issue with work commitments, but most of the senior squad will be ready to go and play night games.

STATE OF PLAY SERIES:

BG: Could you handle another year without a competition?

AG: I think AWFA will set up some sort of competition. I don't think they would not play at all if we had to stop for any reason. They might run a NSW or Victorian competition separately if it came down to that. I don't think they'll allow it to completely stop again, they'll work something out so there's not two seasons in a row without some competition.

BG: Will there be any changes with coaching?

AG: Decha Saisanid is going to coach the reserves again, but we're going to co-coach a little bit more. The quality and age of the senior and reserve squads was spread out, so we kind of split them up a lot this year. Next year we're thinking they will be very close in quality and age, so we'll be pretty much training together and playing together.

BG: You recruited a number of former Murray United players, including Melkie Woldemichael, Ben Smith, Josh Perry and Freddy Myers ahead of the 2020 season. Will you be able to hang onto most of them?

AG: We've got no idea at all what a lot of them are going to do. We're hoping most will come back, but there's a couple that probably won't because they were around the year 12, 18-year-old age group and could potentially move out of the area next year. Most of the core guys will still be around, so it should be fairly similar.

BG: What is a realistic goal for Boomers next year?

AG: At this early stage, we're still hoping to be in the top half of teams, but it depends as well on what the other teams like Wangaratta do and if they bring in any extra quality.

BG: Wangaratta has been the team to beat for two years, will that be the case again?

AG: I don't really know to be honest, I haven't heard much about any of the teams yet. If they keep the same team as last season I would assume so.