James Lukich, who moved to East Point, headlines six key players from the grand final win who have left since the end of 2019.

READ MORE SPORT:

Dean Robertson (Darwin), Andrew Wettenhall (Hamilton), Ryan Head (retired), James Petrie (Western Australia) and Josh Crawford (Ballarat) have also moved on.

Jarred Crabtree, who pulled out of the grand final side on game day due to a failed fitness test, has also decided to leave the reigning premier, heading home to Horsham.

Coach Matt James told The Courier losing senior players is hard but he is looking forward to seeing what his young brigade can produce.

"We've lost a fair bit of experience on our list so there are a lot of new, younger guys. We'll be a fairly different-looking team then what we were in 2019, just that experience has probably fallen away a little bit," he said.

"We've got a lot of guys under the age of 21, 20, even had a couple of 17-year-olds playing in our seniors in the practice matches which has been really exciting, so a bit of a transition period for the club.

"We're looking to be as competitive as we can, win as many games as we can and see what happens from there. It's hard to put a gauge on it when we've probably lost 10 senior players out of our premiership team."

Experienced figure Nick Sullivan from Beaufort headlines Waubra's recruiting pool alongside a herd of young talent who have made the move.

2019 under-19 Redan premiership player Monty Judd has joined the club, alongside Lachlan Rinaldi and Will Green from Ballarat.

2019 under-18 Gordon premiership player Bailey Colligan, who was named among the best players in the grand final, has also made the move across.

James said Reggie Palmer is another youngster that he is excited to watch develop throughout 2021.

Palmer played for the Kangaroos during the 2020 four game under-18 competition and has made the move permanently to the reigning premier.

James said he's been a great addition on the training track so far and is in line to debut early in the season.

"He's been really, really exciting at training because he's young, I think he's still 16 at the moment but he's every chance to get a game in our seniors throughout the year at different stages," he said.

Waubra will also welcome back star ruckman Geordie Lukich who returns after missing the 2019 premiership win due to a hamstring injury.

James said if he can stay healthy he'll be one of the top players in the league again.

"I think he's one of the premier ruckmen in the competition and if he gets a good run at it with injury I think he'll return to that premier ruck position that he had in 2019," he said.

Austin Murphy, who kicked four goals in the 2019 grand final, will captain the side.

Waubra kicks off its season against Dunnstown at home on Saturday April 17.

If you are seeing this message you are a loyal digital subscriber to The Courier, as we made this story available only to subscribers. Thank you very much for your support and allowing us to continue telling Ballarat's story. We appreciate your support of journalism in our great city.

Have you signed up to The Courier's variety of news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in Ballarat.