Newbridge coach Brad Comer is taking no notice of the outside noise surrounding the Maroons' chances in 2018.

On the back of a heavy off-season recruiting campaign, Newbridge has been widely tipped as the premiership favourite even before a ball has been kicked.

Comer couldn't care less what those outside of the club think.

"We've set ourselves a realistic goal of finsihing top three at the end of the home and away season,'' Comer said. "No one at the club is talking premierships. Our focus is on Pyramid Hill in round one."

In contrast to Newbridge, Pyramid Hill has been written off by most pundits.

"We don't know what to expect from Pyramid Hill because they've had a few changes,'' Comer said.

"Hopefully, we can play our best footy and get the job done."

The Maroons have arguably the best one-two punch inside forward 50 with Sam Mildren coming out of retirement to re-join his home club and Rhys Ford back after a stint with North Bendigo.

"Sammy hasn't missed a beat during the pre-season and Rhys is fit and ready to go,'' Comer said.

"We'll rotate them around the forward line through the year and mix things up a bit."

Two of the best clubs in the LVFNL in recent years - Mitiamo and Bridgewater - open the season at Mitiamo.

Both sides have had a plethora of changes, starting at the top in the coaches box, with Andy Grant in charge of the Superoos and Dale Cameron the new mentor at Bridgewater.

Marong faces a big test in round one when it hosts reigning premier Calivil United.

There's plenty of optimism that the Panthers will improve under new coach Corbin Fleming, but defeating the Demons first-up might be too much to expect in round one.

In the final game of round one, Bears-Lagoon Serpentine hosts Maiden Gully YCW Eagles. The Bears are primed to take the next step and challenge for the top three, while the Eagles have quietly put together a talented squad under new coach Wayne Mitrovic and look capable of jumping into the top five by seasons end.