An under-the-radar approach to preseason was designed by coach Marg Lind with a view to catching opponents off guard.

"I've left a bit up my sleeve in the preseason," she told the Weekly.

The Falcons will need every bit of a tactical advantage with a tough opening-month draw.

They will meet last season's grand finalists in the first two rounds and the semi-finalists will follow in two of the next three weeks.

Lind joked that she did not know what she did to the fixture makers to end up with such a horror early draw. "We have to play last year's top four in the first five weeks," she said.

"It's going to be a challenge. You have to play everyone twice anyway, so it doesn't bother us."

The Falcons used last season to regenerate their playing stocks after a number of key departures.

In what was tagged a rebuilding year, the team still managed a fifth-placed finish and got plenty of minutes into young up-and-coming players.

A year on and a year wiser, Lind is thrilled with the mix of youth and experience that has been assembled at the club. "This squad is pretty exciting. We basically wrote last year off as a rebuilding year. This year the goal is definitely to play finals – or even better."

The Falcons shot to the top of Victorian netball with back-to-back premierships in 2009-10.

A key member of that squad was mid-courter Christie Barnes, the MVP in the second of those two grand finals.

Barnes has spent the past 12 months on the sidelines with a knee injury and returned to the team as a co-captain with new recruit Kathleen Knott.

Knott is a big-time Trans Tasman league goaler who has played with the Melbourne Vixens and was part of the Boroondara Genesis run to the season-decider last campaign.

The impact of those two inclusions will be huge for the Falcons.

Lind is also excited with the youngsters pushing for selection, including Victorian Institute of Sport scholarship-holders Kate Moloney and Demi Woodlock. A handful of others from last season's triumphant 19-and-under squad, which Moloney captained, will be pressing for a starting berth. "We've got a bit of depth right across the club," Lind said.

The Falcons' first assignment is against defending champions Monash University Central at the State Netball and Hockey Centre at 9.40pm. VU-Western Lightning will square off with North East Blaze at the same venue in an 8.20pm game.