Nor is it a chance of reaching the finals series.

But for the Saints, it’s about building for the future.

Coach Matt Beaston is now into his second season at the helm and should be proud of what he has done since taking on the position.

Beaston answered the club’s desperate call for help during last pre-season when it was battling to find a coach. He only took over in December, but still lifted the senior side from a winless 2016 campaign to one that claimed three games in 2017.

In 2016, Carngham-Linton conceded a whopping 2544 points from the 17 rounds and finished with a shocking percentage of just 20.60. A year later, under Beaston, the defence gave up only 1815 points and managed to return a percentage of 43.64.

“I suppose we ticked some boxes with some wins and we got our defence and attack better,” Beaston said of last season.

“It is a pass mark I suppose.”

New playing assistant coach Luke Parker appears the Saints’ most important recruit for the new year.

Parker arrived from North Shore and will be used in a variety of roles, including through the engine room.

“He comes from a good league and brings a lot of leadership, different skill sets and a different voice around the group,” Beaston said.

Of the other new faces, Ben Clay is expected to be a handy midfielder/forward, Zac Mawson should add grunt to the onball department and Jacob Cahill is another versatile option.

Todd Currie and Ash McCafferty are among the better players from last year to find new homes, but there isn’t too many key departures to speak about.

Beaston said by keeping together the core of his senior list, he was just “topping up” with some recruits.

“We just want to keep improving. It’s another pre-season under me now so they are starting to get more predictable to each other with structures and all that sort of stuff,” Beaston said.

“The expectation is just to keep improving as a club and get better. By bringing in these other good players, hopefully that will compliment that and the players will grow from it.”

Q: What do you see as your key on-field strength?

I'd say the midfield because obviously we have put some more talent in there. So hopefully that will be our key.

Q: What is your key message as coach in 2018?

Keep learning and growing. Their training standards are lifting and they are buying into what us coaches want them to do.

Q: How have the pre-season preparations gone?

I was pretty happy because we have had probably 25 blokes there every night and hopefully I've got them to a fitness level where they are ready to go. I can't really complain with the pre-season. They have bought into it and I think as a playing group they want to get better.

Q: Which player are you most excited about?

The whole playing group. The whole group just keeps growing.

Q: Which is the team to beat this season?

Beaufort. Obviously they made the grand final last year and they've topped up again. I think they are going to be pretty hard to beat. And they are really well coached.

Matt Beaston (returning)

15th position, three wins, 13 losses

Top goal-kicker: Dean O'Brien, 19 goals

Best and fairest: Beau Ketchen

Geoff Taylor Medal top vote-getters: Jake Pring 4, Joshua Benfield 4, Justin O’Brien 3, Beau Ketchen 3, Matthew Coutts 2, Michael Richardson 1, Brodie Lewis 1

Luke Parker (North Shore), Zac Mawson (North Shore), Ben Clay (Royal Park), Jacob Cahill (Royal Park)

Todd Currie (Sebastopol), Ash McCafferty (Lake Wendouree)

R1: Creswick (a)

R2: Springbank (h)*

R3: Clunes (h)*

R4: Smythesdale (a)

R5: Learmonth (h)*

R6: Newlyn (a)

R7: Daylesford (h)*

R8: Bungaree (a)

R9: Gordon (h)**

R10: Buninyong (a)

R11: Ballan (h)**

R12: Dunnstown (a)

R13: Beaufort (h)**

R14: Hepburn (a)

R15: Waubra (h)**

R16: Rokewood-Corindhap (a)

R17: Skipton (h)**

*Linton

**Snake Valley

Carngham-Linton is likely to suffer some heavy defeats against the top sides in the league, but will hope to be competitive for long periods of time. The Saints should then pinch a few wins against the middle to lower teams.