Eastwood were a penalty goal away from a second straight Shute Shield grand final in 2022, but fell just short against eventual premiers Sydney Uni in the preliminary final.

Coach Ben Batger has lost quite a few players to overseas contracts since last season, but at the same time he's also welcomed "the best crop of colts" the club has seen in quite some time to his top squad.

Overview with Ben Batger:

"It’s always a long preseason in club rugby. We train two days a week, we’re still a bit old school in that way, but it’s been a tough slog over the last 10 or so weeks," Batger told Rugby News.

"Everyone is really excited to get stuck into trials this weekend. It’s the fun part of the year now.

"Looking back at last year, it’s a difficult one. I thought we had a side to win the whole thing and when you look back at the semi final against Uni, it certainly could have gone the other way at times.