VFL reigning premier North Ballarat rolls up its sleeves, brushes off the cobwebs and gets down to the business it knows best today _ playing a fair dinkum brand of football.All the signs are that the Selkirk Roosters have not delivered anywhere near their potential in the pre-season.It does not come as a surprise on the back of the highest of highs.If coach Gerard FitzGerald was looking for the right vibes on the eve of the opening round clash against last year's grand final combatant Port Melbourne at Port Melbourne though, all the signs were there at training yesterday morning.The Roosters were sharp and eager."There's been good signs all week," FitzGerald said.North Ballarat has been anything but sparkling in practice matches, but FitzGerald said he was pleased with the intensity the Roosters had shown in the final countdown to the season opener.Clinton Benjamin (Carlton) is the only player from the North Ballarat VFL list to be making his debut with the team today.However, he is not the only newcomer.North Melbourne first-year players Warren Benjamin and Marcus White (rookie) will also line up. Although the Roosters had a high player retention rate, only 13 of last year's premiership team will face the Borough.Derick Micallef, Jackson Hall and Rohan McHugh have forced their way in after impressive pre-seasons.FitzGerald said selection was a fitting reward for all three, who had shown perseverance to take themselves to a new level over the summer.He said now it was up to each to grab his chance.This is only Micallef's third senior match.He played two in his first season in 2007, but was unable to break out of the reserves last year.Hall played eight senior games in what was his first season with the Roosters last year, but was unable to force his way into the team in the second half of the year.McHugh had a similar experience to Hall.He made his VFL senior debut last year and managed nine games, but missed the cut for the finals.FitzGerald said Clinton Benjamin, Micallef and McHugh, in particular, would provide the added leg speed and carry the Roosters were looking for.FitzGerald expects nothing less than a hard contest against Port Melbourne, which has only a handful of changes to the team which lost last year's grand final.North Ballarat premiership player Blake Grima is one of the new faces for the Borough.He said Port Melbourne had had an impressive pre-season and was always hard to beat at home _ a venue at which it was undefeated last year.