And the proof is in their early season form and enthusiasm.

After winning only one game in 2019 and two games the season before, LBU has opened the new season with a pair of losses.

But Hardess said there were plenty of positive signs in the Cats' 54-29 loss to a rebounding Colbinabbin.

A 25 goal final margin was well short of the average 44.5 goal margin between the Cats and Grasshoppers in their past four clashes in 2018-19.

And it's not just the scoreboard where the Cats have shown improvement, according to Hardess, who is in her first season at the helm, having returned to the club after a lengthy stint away.

"The first week the girls were a bit nervous after the long break, but they came together pretty well after the first couple of quarters and we actually did fairly well before we ran out of fitness," she said.

"There's a bit of work still to be done there, but I'm really happy with how they've come together and the way they performed against Colbo.

"We were only four goals down at half time and the girls kept their head despite the final margin.

"They are responding very well to everything we are doing at training and trying to implement into games and for the whole four quarters.

"That is exactly what we want, them working well for a full four quarters. I'm sure we can get there in the end."

Hardess said it was the maturity of the Grasshoppers, led by experienced premiership players Olivia MCEvoy and coach Lou Dupuy, which allowed them to get on top in the second half.

"Once Lou moved to shooter, she was very hard to match up against - our team isn't very tall," she said.

"But our goal keeper (Shellyn Hobbs) and goal defence (Jessie Milligan) were our best on court, just for their pure work ethic."

The Cats got exceptional games from Amee Hardess and Kiarra Duncan in round one against Heathcote, highlighting their willingness to share the load in 2021.

"What we really want is hard work at training and hard work on game days and a desire to really build our club's culture," Hardess said.

"It mightn't look like it on the scoreboard, but there was genuine improvement from game one to two.

"There's not much you can do against the likes of Lou (Dupuy) in terms of stopping her, but as I've said, we were only down by four at the half.

"The way the girls came out and played their own game from the start was a massive improvement on how we came out in the first quarter against Heathcote.

"It was really good to see the improvement in their mental game as well as their physical game."

The Cats will to consolidate their improvenment with another improved showing at Mount Pleasant on Saturday.

In other HDFNL games this Saturday, undefeated North Bendigo (2-0) hosts reigning premier White Hills (1-1), Colbinabbin (1-1) clashes with Huntly (1-1) and Heathcote (1-1) meets Leitchville-Gunbower (0-2), with the Bombers looking for their first win of the season.

Have you signed up to the Bendigo Advertiser's daily newsletter and breaking news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in central Victoria.