Last season the Port Fairy A grade netballers made the elimination final, the first time the side had contested the finals since 2004.

The club's under 17s team also had a successful year, making the grand final before going down to North Warrnambool Eagles.

Coach of that junior team, Bev Bourke, will lead the Seagulls' state league team , while her daughter, Nicole Dwyer, will again lead the Seagulls in the regular Hampden league season.

It was a winning start for the Port Fairy team when it defeated the South West District League team by 20 goals last Thursday.

The season will run for nine weeks before the top four teams play off in the finals.

The teams in the draw are: Port Fairy, Cobden and District, Camperdown, Hampden Green, Hampden White, Colac and District, Warrnambool and District Yellow, Warrnambool and District White and South West District.The Port Fairy team is made up of a combination of players from the club's regular list, as well as some imports for the pre-season competition.

Bourke said the competition provided the perfect preparation for the young Seagulls line-up.

"Our A grade team is a very young team and this will give the girls more experience playing bigger bodies and against the best players in the region," Bourke said.

"It is a good chance to play with and against some different players and to show our girls they are capable of matching it with the best. I think one of the problems we have had is that Port Fairy netballers have been too polite, we play against some tough players who play the game hard and we need to take the next step and match them in that area."

Bourke said the addition of players such as Mandy Knee (South Rovers) and Maddie Dalton would give the team plenty of rotations and allow her manage the workload of the players.

The Seagulls played Hampden White last night in round two and will have a bye next Thursday.