We've sat down with all the coaches ahead of one of the most anticipated local football seasons in memory.

In part one we placed the microscope on a group we dubbed the "city six". Now, in part two, it's time to venture down the highway.

Hear what the coaches have to say about their club's chances in 2021.

After that, we'd love to know what you think. Fill in the anonymous survey at the bottom to pick your flag favourite.

SEE ALL THE CENTRAL HIGHLANDS FOOTBALL LEAGUE SEASON PREVIEWS HERE.

COACH: Tom German

2019: 8th (6-10)

Tom German has high hopes for the Cobras and the first-year coach is confident of instilling a brand of football the will push his group towards finals. German has lured plenty of gun recruits from his former side, Mansfield, and his desire for fast, attacking football will make Bacchus Marsh a side to watch.

On the year off

"If anything it might have strengthened us."

"I think we were in a good position going into last year's season and we've managed to just top up with a few other players that we needed."

On recruitment

"My real approach is that you recruit what you need. I have a heavy reliance on the locals as well, by getting improvements out of the group that we had."

"We had a number of players that we brought in to fill specific roles and those quys are going quite well."

"I have a backline coach (Ryan Bartlett) who's come across that was with me up at Mansfield. He's been fantastic. Then we had another key forward, Jayden Owen, that's come across. We just had those sort of set roles that we wanted to fill where we felt we were a bit light on."

On taking things easy

"I guess being a first-year coach as well you don't want to set the target too high."

"We've had really good numbers throughout the pre-season and some pleasing performances in the practice matches. The whole group in general has really bought into the game style that I've attempted to bring across."

"It's hard to sort of set a target."

THINK BACCHUS MARSH CAN MAKE FINALS? HAVE YOUR SAY IN OUR POLL AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS STORY.

On Cobras footy

"We've got a mixed array of players across the board, with mixed experiences."

"We just want to play fast, reliable football and play a consistent brand - not have lulls throughout the game. I think most coaches would be striving for that."

Ryan Bartlett (Mansfield)

Jayden Owen (Gisborne)

Lachie Christopher (Mansfield

Jake Chisari (retired)

Brodie Easton (VAFA)

Liam Mullen (South Warrnambool)

Hamish Coulton (North Beach, WAFL)

COACH: Dan Roy

2019: 3^rd (11-5)

lost elimination final to Redan

Dan Roy has set the benchmark high. In his words, "anything less than finals is an absolute failure." The returning premiership Devil now has a former AFL forward at his disposal, and with plenty of other gun recruits on board Darley could be one to keep an eye on.

On finals goal

"Anything less than finals is an absolute failure for us."

"To start with, it's a bit unpredictable (this season), but we'll just try and get in the top group for the finals."

"But if we play the style of football that I know we can play and that we're showing we can play, there are no boundaries."

On being sidelined in 2020

"I use the term that I'm still undefeated."

"It was a strange year for everyone, and I'm sure none of us has ever been through something like it.

"We're not professional athletes. Unfortunately, yes, footy did have to take a back burner, but there were people in a lot worse situations than us.

"It was odd, but we got through it. We're back to where we want to be now, and it's probably made everyone a little bit hungrier."

On playing high-octane footy

"We just want to play a fast style."

"We've got a lot of young guys who are good athletes and are quick. So for us, it will be all about pressure.

"Our barometer is our frontal pressure and how much we can try and squeeze up teams and get the ball back on the inside."

CAN DARLEY GO ALL THE WAY? HAVE YOUR SAY IN THE POLL AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS STORY.

On the impact of Doug Hawkins

"A few of our under 19s probably don't understand how good Doug was and what he did for footy."

"I know the parents of the younger guys would be pushing their kids, telling them that the opportunity to get coached by Doug Hawkins doesn't come very often."

"It's been a real positive from that side where the younger guys have been up-and-about and have been training with the seniors."

"There have been really quality kids coming through and Doug, and another guy Rocket, are all about getting them up to the seniors and giving them the exposure they need."

Mitch Banner (Old Melburnians)

Ben Said (St Albans)

Matthew Brett (linked with Werribee, VFL)

Ryan Kemp (linked with Werribee, VFL)

Jackson Carrick (South Barwon)

Brian Graham (Sunshine)

Nick Graham (North Footscray)

COACH: Aaron Tymms

2019: 5^th (10-6)

lost preliminary final to Sebastopol

After falling agonisingly short the past two seasons, Melton is determined to get the monkey off the back. Aaron Tymms' charges have ample motivation after last year's preliminary final heartbreak and with a goakicking force now on the list the Bloods have their eyes on taking that final step.

On just enjoying footy

"I know it's an old cliche but we'll just take it one week at a time."

"We'll just try to enjoy it as much as we can because you never know what's going to be around the corner really with the way all these health experts and what not are talking about COVID."

"I reckon we only need one more breakout and the season will be up in the air again."

"So I reckon if we get a game off the ground we'll just enjoy every game we get to have and every kick we get."

On scoring more goals

"We've been good defensively but hopefully this year we can score a little bit more as well."

"We definitely need to improve on (that)."

"We saw that as a flaw in our game. So hopefully we can fix that area and kick some bigger scores."

On pre-season

"We just tried to make pre-season as fun as possible because we had a massive (pre-season) the year before."

"We've still done a lot of work (this year), don't get me wrong, but we just tried to make it a little bit more fun because we didn't know if a season was going to get off the ground or not.

"We really didn't want to be flogging the boys and making it a torture sort of thing."

WILL MELTON WIN THE FLAG? LET US KNOW IN THE POLL AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS STORY.

On recruiting

"It was slim pickings mate, to be honest."

"We picked up a young kid Kevin Kilx from Deer Park. Hopefully he can bring some goals. He's just a little quick, nuggety small forward."

"But with that we also lost a couple of blokes as well. So we're probably on par. What we've lost and what we have has sort of evened itself out."

Kevin Klix (Deer Park)

Lachlan Phillips (Melton Central)

Lachlan Watkins (Melton South - 2020 signing)

Mitch Brockwell (Diggers Rest)

Ben McMahon (Diggers Rest)

Shaun Campbell (Parkside)

Mark Orr (overseas)

COACH: Heath Pritchard

2019: 11^th (2-14)

THE BRIEF

It's a simple motive for Melton South: be more competitive. The Panthers managed just two wins in 2019 and by coach Heath Pritchard's own admission there are plenty of areas for improvement. Securing former VFL players on a full-time basis is a big boost but ultimately the club's fate rests on its ability to contest four quarters.

IN THE COACH'S WORDS

On the early rounds

"Look, we've just got to be more competitive. We're coming from a long way back."

"We've just got to make sure we're in games for long periods of time. If we can get a couple of wins we'll be wrapped.

"But obviously on 2019 form we've got a lot of improving to do and we're hopeful and believe we can do that."

On areas for improvement

"When you have a percentage of 40 it's pretty simple. We weren't kicking enough goals and we were getting too many kicked against us."

"So we've been working pretty hard on our ball movement. We think we've got a forward line that can score so that's probably where our main aim has been."

On VFL signings

"To get four proven VFL footballers to come to our club has been great for us really."

"We're very hopeful that they're going to have a big impact on our team. Not just with the way that they play but also with helping our younger guys become better players as well."

WILL MELTON SOUTH BIG THE LEAGUE'S BIG IMPROVERS THIS YEAR? HAVE YOUR SAY IN THE POLL AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS STORY.

On a young group

"The list is pretty young, to be brutally honest."

"Our average age last year would have been 21 or 22. We're a fairly young list obviously so we need to get a lift from all of those guys and with the blokes we've recruited as well hopefully that should hold us in good stead."

Dylan Conway (Port Melbourne VFL - full-time)

Shaun Wyatt (Bairnsdale)

Billy Lloyd (Port Melbourne VFL - 2020 signing)

Ryan Pendlebury (Coburg VFL - 2020 signing)

Lachlan Watkins (Melton)

Shannen Lange (Sale)

Paul Bowers (WAFL)

COACH: Travis Hodgson

2019: 4^th (11-5)

lost elimination final to Melton

Sunbury's list of departures almost reads like a honour roll. Lachie Bramble is off to the AFL, the gun Landt brothers are out the door and the Lions could farewell interleague representative Mitch Conn halfway through the season. Despite the losses, coach Travis Hodgson is quietly confident about his group's chances.

On NSW fly-ins

"We're not generally a club that would just go and get random players and fly them in, but Conn has played his whole life here, and Kovacevic spent six or seven years at Sunbury."

"They're really good Sunbury people, so we'd certainly be prepared to accommodate them for as long as we can."

"(Mitch Conn will) play pretty a mix of Sunbury and Sydney up until June 30, and then he'll have to make a decision."

"(Mitch) wants to play at Sunbury, obviously. But he might do it for a month and just find it too difficult."

On losing Lachie Bramble

"We were probably really stiff with Lachie because we lost him as late as February or March."

"His last 20 games of footy were for the Sunbury footy club. Usually there's a transition between your local club and the VFL before they get to the AFL level."

"To have him taken straight to Hawthorn is unusual and you certainly can't replace a player of his calibre in such a short time."

"Although we haven't brought in anyone at Lachie's level, we've brought in similar types and kids that can really run. They have similar traits to Lachie, they're just not at his level."

On the 2019 elimination final loss

"It still stings for me and think it does for the players as well."

"Sometimes you stumble in finals and you can almost see that coming but we went into that final have 10 of our last 11 games, including wins against Sebastopol and East Point, who played off in the granny."

"We actually went into that final with a full head of steam and probably expected to go a bit further than we did."

"I'd be lying if I saw said we put it in the rearview mirror."

IS SUNBURY A PREMIERSHIP CONTENDER? HAVE YOUR SAY IN THE POLL AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS STORY

On season goals

"We think we've got a good enough list to play finals."

"Then once we get there we'd like to make sure we can go a bit deeper than just playing the first week."

"Although we've lost a few players, we've only turned over a lot of players in the middle of our list. Apart from Lachie we've kept most of our top-end talent."

"We think that we're probably at a similar position to 2019. So, certainly not planning on going backwards."

Tyson Lever (Coburg VFL)

David Kovakevic (St Albans)

Daniel Toman (Port Melbourne VFL)

Lachlan Bramble (Hawthorn AFL)

Jack Landt (Dimboola)

Trent Stead (Riddell)

Dylan Landt (Glenelg)

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