Orange Hawks will kick-off their pre-season training camp at the start of November

While parts of the roster were in place and the potential was there, the former Souths Newcastle gun and New Zealand-born Heta acted as a glue that brought the playing group together and immediately delivered winning results.

On the heels of a minor premiership, the Hawks were honing in on 2020 as a genuine opportunity to claim a title before the onset of COVID-19 put a halt to their plans.

Now, after a long winter of waiting, Heta plans to reboot the Orange Hawks Premier League program with a super early pre-season schedule, set to start in November.

And not only does Heta aim to put his players through their paces at the end of spring, he's starting to finalise which key men will feature in his 2021 playing roster, starting with a few loyal clubmen.

"Ethan McKellar is someone who has always showed interest in us and is committed to us," Heta said.

"He's had his time playing with Western Rams and he's trimmed down a bit over the off-season and has enjoyed a move to the back row."

McKellar was one of the Hawks who didn't drift off to other local competitions, rather he competed at a higher level of rugby league in the Presidents Cup competition, mixing it up with the state's finest before sustaining an injury that forced him to sit on the sidelines for the second half of the campaign.

Utility Rakai Tuheke is also someone Heta holds vital to the club and says he has no doubt he'll return to the Hawks after helping Orange City to a Blowes Clothing Cup grand final berth.

"He's a league-ey,"

"He'll stick alongside me... he's enjoyed a good season of rugby union."

While McKellar and Tuheke are certainly talented players, they're two blokes you'd expect to see return to the club.

However, the next target isn't.

Ryan Manning is set to slot into the Premier League team after the youngster was last seen in the Central West playing for Western under 18s, before heading to Wollongong for a pre-season with the Cronulla Sharks.

The livewire will act as an ideal replacement for Steven Widders who looks likely to return to the Hunter.

"He's a young kid who's only going to grow in confidence after spending some time in Sydney," he said.

"I've got other guys like Duncan Young and Jake Blimka who have both done great jobs in the last few seasons but for me it's about getting something who's got a bit of an X factor.

"Widder's intention was always to come here for one season then go home to Newcastle... that's where he's been raised, that's where the beach is and where his mum is. I'm sure there would be plenty of teams there who would throw some money at him."

Heta's Hawks will take the field for preseason in the early weeks of November.