The Magpies don't have the quantity of players that most BFNL clubs have at their disposal, but first-year coach Moran said the club had no plans to sit out the 2020 season.

"We'll have a senior side for this year,'' Moran said on Tuesday.

"We might have a number of reserves players playing in the seniors, but we'll have a senior team.

"We're surveying the playing group this week to see who is in and who is out.

"We're running behind everyone else in terms of training because we had to wait on the shire to give us clearance to use the ground.

"We've had four sessions back training and we're going okay for numbers. The under-18s and under-16s are training and they look like they'll be right to play.

"At the very least we should have a senior team and under-18 team."

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The Magpies are keeping a close eye on the situation in the Maryborough Castlemaine District Football League.

The MCDFNL is yet to make a final decision on its season.

"We could be in a different situation in terms of numbers if the MCDFNL pulls the pin because I've had contact from players in that league that have shown interest in playing for Castlemaine if their league doesn't play,'' Moran said.

"We don't want to burn bridges with district clubs, so we'll do that in the right manner should the MCDFNL not play.

"If there's some players out there that want to have a kick we'd love to see them at our club on a permit for this year."

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Winless with an average losing margin of 105 points in 2019, Moran's rebuilding plans for the Magpies centred around the youth in the district rather than high-priced recruits from the metropolitan area.

With that philosophy comes more defeats in the short-term, but it's a plan Moran was hopeful would benefit the Pies long-term.

He was buoyed by what he saw over the pre-season.

Moran said the Magpies were showing some improved signs on and off the field before the COVID-19 lockdown hit.

"We'd put together a really good five months as a group,'' he said.

"There was a different vibe around the club and all the players had bought into what we were trying to implement.

"We're rebuilding and we were disappointed that the season didn't get underway as normal.

"We'd be competitive with the teams in the bottom part of the competition, but we wouldn't set the world on fire just because we're so young."

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