A group of more than 40 existing and potential players were put through their paces on the synthetic turf at Bendigo South East College, under the watchful eye of coach Mike Hughes.

Players shrugged off the 30-degree heat to take part in a three hour session, consisting of drills and fitness.

Despite the season opener being three months away, there was a feeling of hunger to atone for last year's disappointing finals exit.

The Dragons were eliminated in the preliminary final by eventual Division Two champions Pakenham, after dominating the regular season with a 9-1 record.

"It wasn't a very nice feeling, the way the season ended," Hughes said.

"I don't think it was choking, it was complacency more than anything else - should've done more, could've done more was the message from that game.

"It's already been drilled into them after the disappointment."

Initial training numbers were swelled by nearly a dozen newcomers, with the second-year coach preaching patience.

"They'll need to learn the basics - some don't know anything at all about football," he said.

"There's a lot of classroom work to be done on terminology and technique to get them up to speed with what's going on on the field.

"They need to know what they're doing, even if they have played (the video game) Madden for three years."

The start of pre-season came on the eve of Monday’s Super Bowl 50 clash between the Carolina Panthers and Denver Broncos.

Among the newcomers was 16-year-old Mitchell Bover, who made the 90 minute trip from Shepparton.

A talented junior soccer player and golfer and San Francisco 49ers fan, Bover said he was keen to take up the sport after following it on TV for five years.

He was part of a big group of players to work out at wide receiver, but said he would settle for a spot anywhere on the team.

Bover will continue to train on Sundays, but miss the Dragons' Wednesday night sessions, also at BSE College.

The Dragons look to have lost none of their starters from last season, but have regained some of their former personnel.

Club president Darren Maher said numbers for the first practice were the best he had seen in the club's four years.

"There's a lot of guys really keen to make up for the bad finish to last year," he said.

"We've managed to get a few extra coaches qualified during the off-season and we're aiming to get a few more qualified.

"We want to build the foundations for the future, so when the guys who are playing retire, they can step up as coaches.

"The hardest thing for us is getting those 16 to 18-year-old kids to play - we'd really like to get a junior team happening."

The club is also continuing to explore the viability of a women's team.

Communications manager Ashlyn Kentish said a number of Melbourne-based clubs were having success with female teams.

"A lot of the guys' girlfriends play in those teams," she said.

"I believe we could get the necessary numbers - the same with the juniors.

"We are always having juniors and women contact us, it's just a matter of having the background work and coaches in place so we do it right."