How a Canberra team is battling back from death's door and a 197-point loss

So how does Russell Stewart get the Gungahlin Jets up this week?

It's a daunting task for the new Jets coach, who saw his side concede 211 points against Eastlake in round one and is now preparing his troops for a clash with the Belconnen Magpies at Kippax Oval.

Dare to dream with us for a moment. Imagine the scenes if the Jets - who have been flat out trying to get close to a top four team in AFL Canberra's first grade competition for years - pulled off the miracle on turf.

Now come back to reality. The Jets are struggling to compete in a six-team competition that for some time has been divided into two - the top four, and Gungahlin and Tuggeranong Valley.

For the record, Belconnen's premiership defence started with an 81-point win over Tuggeranong.

But Stewart is refusing to wilt. With a first grade team boasting an average age of something like 20 - where two 28-year-old players are considered the outliers - the new Gungahlin mentor is backing youth in the hope it pays off down the line.

"There was some turmoil in the off-season, there wasn't the confidence the club might be kicking on this year," Stewart said.

"They lost quite a few players. Some went out to the bush, some were poached by other teams. That created a reluctance for guys to commit, thinking 'we're finished'.

"When we were running the sessions in the off-season and we got to 22 guys, we were like 'well, we've got a first team'. Now we've got about 40 guys on the list, but we had to forfeit our reserve grade last week and it's likely we'll have to forfeit again [on Saturday].

"We've got eight guys who are missing [Saturday's] game who are walk-up starters for our first team. If we had them, we'd likely have two teams on the park. We're close to being self-sufficient, but when we cop injuries or unavailability, it really hurts us."

The Jets are blooding them young. They have no other choice. They don't have the luxury of sitting a youngster in a pocket to learn from a seasoned forward.

Because there is a major gulf between the Jets' junior program and the senior level. Gungahlin field an under 15s team, but the club is missing from AFL Canberra's Emerging Stars boys and Rising Stars men's competitions.

Gungahlin were forced to forfeit their opening round reserve grade game and Stewart feared they would do the same in round two.

Now club bosses are adopting a GWS-style approach by promoting and retaining young talent so, down the line, they will be able to match it in the top grade.

"The focus for us this whole pre-season has not been about winning or losing. We know we're unlikely to compete with the pokie clubs," Stewart said.

"We're just developing our own metrics around our work rate, our effort, and being really hard to play against. If that translates into some wins, then fantastic. We're just trying to develop guys as much as we can.

"We positioned ourselves how GWS did when they first came in. These young guys are really good, but in five years' time, that's when they'll probably mature into decent footballers.

"It was a big loss last week, we ended up finishing the game with 16 players, so we copped six injuries on match day. We're not shy about where we're at because all the other teams in the comp have recruited heavily.

"Are we that bad or are they that good? We'll just have to see, as a measure, when Eastlake plays Queanbeyan to see where they're at."