It follows what was ultimately a disappointing finish to their 2017 premiership defence last season, with a stacked squad on paper that never quite clicked into gear on the paddock bundled out of the finals in week one.

It came without star five-eighth Jarrod Boyle, who was absent from the finals, but Fien said it was a finish below his own expectations and that of his footy club.

"Not just myself but the entire playing group were disappointed with how we finished last year," Fien said.

"Coming off winning the previous season we knew it was always going to be tough. When you're the premiers you've got to be up every week because, it doesn't matter who you're playing, they're going to get up.

"Hopefully we learned a few lessons from last year just about our intensity and what's going to be required. There were a few things out of our control. We knew right from the start that Boyley was going to be away [come finals] and everyone knows how important he is to our team and what we do.

"Losing him didn't help our cause but we don't really have any excuses. We're a club that backs our development and bringing on young guys. We definitely had the crew there to go on with it but we just weren't good enough at the back end of last year."

It prompted the two-time premiership-winning coach to change his approach over the off-season, focusing more on retaining the club's juniors than recruiting from elsewhere.

"In the past we've been able to get a few guys that have either been finishing their NRL career or been on the fringe of the NSW Cup or Ron Massey Cup," Fien said.

"The way the cap is this year it made us think about how we were going to structure things going forward. We've lost a big part of our first grade squad, probably seven or eight guys, so it's definitely a different side but what we've shown throughout the preseason definitely got me exited about the year ahead and what we can do.

"The club's been in a pretty good position a few years back with the juniors and how well they've planned and we're seeing the fruits of some of there hard work. We've got some kids there starting to come through and we've got some experienced guys in there like Boyley, Boofa [Blake Phillips] and Thommo [Jarrod Thompson] in there guiding them.

"You need a lot of luck, you need your crew to stay as healthy as possible throughout the year but I'm pretty confident if we can get our best team on the park week in week out we'll definitely be there or thereabouts come the end of the season."

Early signs have been good, with the young Dogs going undefeated on route to the preseason Challenge Cup silverware.

Victory in the final came over last year's grand finalists Thirroul who they'll face at Gibson Park in Saturday's season-opener. It's a tough first-up assignment and Fien insists his side won't be complacent despite their preseason win over the Butchers.

"I'm pleased with where we're at but I'm a big believer in you can't read too much into the preseason," Fien said.

"It was an opportunity to look at a few young guys and give them a taste of the step up to playing first grade week to week. It also shows where we're at, some of the kids still need a little bit of work and a little bit of time.

"Round one at Thirroul, it doesn't get much tougher than that. It's a really tough place to go and get two points. We're under no illusions as to how tough it's going to be."