Focus on the program currently is firmly placed on Lila Keck, Bryde O'Rourke, Keely Fullerton and Steph Demeo and their AFLW Draft aspirations, but while that has captured the public's attention, the squad has quietly been going about their work in these first weeks of pre-season.

Both the boys and girls kickstarted their pre-season in Swan Hill with over 80 girls on the track, a number head coach Whitney Kennedy described as "phenomenal".

Numbers have continued to be strong since that session, and there are some exciting developments for the programs base in Mildura, which has left Kennedy excited for new campaign.

"The first couple of sessions have gone great, and we've had fantastic numbers right across our region," she said.

"We've got enough numbers on the girl's side of the program in Mildura now for them to do standalone training sessions together, which is huge.

"The Echuca girls have been consistently coming to Bendigo and are enjoying training with the bigger numbers, so it's been an awesome start, and the spirits are high."

While the Bendigo and Mildura-based training is looking solid, Kennedy admitted work was needed to be done to ensure the Swan Hill-based girls have the best chance of success.

"We've got a bit of work to do in that area, so we'll need to pay extra attention to that region over the next 18 months as they're pretty limited with what they can do due to numbers," she said.

"Fortunately, they've been trying to make the trip to Bendigo once a week, which is helping."

Executing the fundamentals under pressure has been the primary focus so far, with training at a very high intensity, as usual at the Pioneers.

The girls will get a chance to put their work into practice in the first intra-club of the pre-season on Thursday.

The Pioneer's final session before the Christmas break will be held next Tuesday.

After which, groups will be allocated to a certain coach over the hiatus to ensure they keep a connection to the program while away.

Kennedy plans to have a small list reduction shortly after the players return in January before the final 2024 list is announced in late February.

Meanwhile, Ava Bibby, Jemmika Douglas, Lexi Gregor and Lucia Painter were recently included in the Vic Country summer training hub squads.

The squads will complete two high-performance training camps before the 2024 season.

Kennedy was pleased for the quartet but singled out Bibby as a player to watch next season.

"For Ava (Bibby) to be in the squad as a bottom ager is a great testament to her performances for Vic Country's under-16s and at the Pioneers this year playing as a 16-year-old in under-18s footy," Kennedy said.

"There is some incredible depth coming through our under-16 program in 2024 also, so we'll look to expose that top-end talent and give them as much opportunity to play under-18s footy as possible."

Kennedy said she is still speaking frequently with the girls hopeful of being drafted on Monday night.

"Their nerves would be starting to kick in now with that element of uncertainty," she said.

"We just encourage them to enjoy reaping the benefits of their hard work, but the biggest thing is if you don't get drafted, we're still so proud of you and are keen to see what you do next."