The Bulls had only lost one game when the lockdown in August brought the season to a close.

They were awarded the minor premiership, but without finals played there was no premier.

That's why it was so bittersweet for the Bulls, who sat on top of the ladder. They and the Queanbeyan Blues were runaway leaders of the competition when it suddenly ended.

"If you had've said at the start of that season coming into the finals you'd only drop one game all year you'd take it," Bijorac said.

"But then there's unfinished business because you don't know what could have been.

"Finals are a different footy style and we just weren't able to do that, so we weren't able to test ourselves and see if we could finally get that prize.

"So it's pleasing, but then disheartening at the same time."

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Can they get back to being one of the favourites just weeks out from finals again? That's the unknown, with a raft of changes at the club.

They've lost Jackson Owen to the Wests Tigers under-21s, while Connor Williams and Zachary Patch have gone to the Queensland Cup and they've also lost their top try-scorer Tristan Eldridge.

But they've added Kane Allan (NSW Cup) and Isaac Walker (Goulburn), as well as bringing Patrick Hubbard and Cayden Hill up through the grades.

Bijorac said they had good depth and numbers throughout the club so he was confident they'd be able to cope with any players ruled out due to COVID-19 throughout the season.

"It's never good when the season ends like that. I'm sure every club wanted to finish the season, not just us - especially after the second year of disruption with the COVID - but there wasn't much we could do about it," Bijorac said.

"So we've just got to prepare now for this year.

"Every year you've got to have those goals of making the grand final. We definitely had that last year and we were close, but there's nothing much we could do about that.

"Now we've just got to aim up. It's a new team, we've got several new faces. That's our mindset now, just trying to progress to get to the finals this year and see what happens."

CANBERRA RAIDERS CUP ROUND ONE

Saturday: Woden Valley Rams v Queanbeyan Blues at Phillip; Tuggeranong Bushrangers v Queanbeyan Kangaroos at Greenway; Gungahlin Bulls v West Belconnen Warriors at Gungahlin Enclosed; Belconnen United Sharks v Goulburn City Bulldogs at Bruce. All games at 3pm.