Castlemaine had a big turnover of players in the off-season, only played one practice match in the pre-season and went into Saturday's against Maryborough as an unknown quantity.

It was only one game and there's still plenty of work to do, but Filo and the Pies at least have an extra pep in their step this week.

"I was concerned because we went into the game a little bit underdone,'' Filo said.

"As the game wore on we started to play some decent footy and in the third quarter, in particular, we put together some good passages of play.

"It was good to get a win for some confidence and to build some chemistry in the group."

Perhaps the most pleasing sign for Filo and the Pies was the form of some of the club's recruits.

Castlemaine's best players in the win were largely newcomers to the club.

Key position player Jesse Johnson and ruckman Dylan Atkins were superb, while Fabian Brancatisano and Tyler Gavralas kicked six goals between them.

"They're all pretty good players, so once they get five or six games under their belt we'll really start to see how good they are,'' Filo said.

"I thought our younger players did a really good job as well."

It was the first time since round 14, 2016, that star midfielder Kal Huntly wasn't in Castlemaine's best three players in a victory.

"It was a good sign for the club that we didn't have to rely on Kal having a big game for us to win,'' Filo said.

"Kal still played a good game for us, but we had a better spread of good players."

Filo said he expects Castlemaine and Maryborough to be more competitive than 2017 when they won three games between them and were on the end of several heavy defeats.

"We won p[lenty of the ball last year, but we kept giving it back to the opposition,'' Filo said.

"This year we have players who can use the ball really well and have some polish. It's going to take six or seven weeks for us to really gel, but we're showing some encouraging signs.

"Maryborough kept working hard all day. I thought there was a couple of times where it looked like we were going to break the game open, but they just kept coming at us.

"They look a bit simnilar to us in that they've improved the way they use the ball. They defeintley look like they've improved from last year."

Filo and the Pies face a much sterner test this Saturday when they host Eaglehawk at Camp Reserve.

"Eaglehawk appears to be in good shape and we're not expected to get close to them, so we're looking forward to the challenge,'' Filo said.

"I have no doubt we're better prepared to play them this year compared to last year."