New Thunder president Chris Coughlan said the club would be part of a 10-team competition and play 18 games, starting after Easter.

“We believe we will be quite competitive against the premier division reserves teams and old foes like North Geelong, who we defeated in the 2013 grand final,”he said.

The past 12 months was a difficult period for the Bendigo women’s side.

After winning back-to-back premierships, they struggled for numbers after being elevated to the top division and suffered heavy defeats every week.

But Coughlan said the club was looking forward to a fresh start to the new year, with a revamped board steering them towards the season kick-off.

Only three committee members - Coughlan, Leonie Dickins and Rose Walsh - remain from 2014, with five new faces joining them at the table.

Coughlan takes over as president from Beth Taylor, who helped establish Thunder over the past four years and was thanked for her efforts at the club’s AGM.

Dickins is the treasurer, and newcomer Jenny Orchard fills the role of secretary.

Among the general committee members are senior players Sarah Baldwin and Emma Grant; Danny O’Neill, whose wife Cherie is a former player and now assistant coach; and Fiona Fitzpatrick, the mother of talented football siblings Lily, Grace and Ruby Campbell and sister of secretary Orchard.

Coughlan said the new board was keen to see Thunder thriving again.

He said coach Craig Riddiford and assistant O’Neill had been leading training for the past six weeks.

While they are now on a break, the girls have a fitness program to follow until training resumes in late January.

Exercise physiology students from La Trobe University’s Bendigo campus have also been working with the Thunder players to improve their conditioning.

One of the first tasks for the board in coming months will be to find a replacement for Paul Lefevre, who recently resigned from the committee for personal reasons and will be sadly missed.