The three esteemed Picker brothers - Joe, Ben, and Mick - will play for the Young Cherrypickers in the Group Nine competition this year.

Though he does not begrudge Ben's decision to relocate, Green Devils head coach Brian Gray acknowledged how big the loss will be for the club.

"[Ben] was the general out there, with his experience playing with the Raiders and the Goulburn Workers [Bulldogs], he was invaluable," Gray said.

"Those boys have been really good for Crookwell rugby league, Ben played three seasons and Joe had one or two, they don't owe Crookwell anything."

Gray was hoping to retain Ben or lure either Joe or Mick back to the Green Devils for one more season.

"We're a bit disappointed that we didn't get one or all of those boys to play," he said.

"They've gone to play in another competition that they haven't played in previously, there's a bit of motivation for them there [in the form of a new challenge]."

The dearth of such experienced players has Gray expecting a transition year in 2020, though he hopes to see some older faces turn up in the next few weeks as pre-season comes to a head.

"There's a few players from the finals last year we'd like to see show their faces at training," he said.

"It's going to be a transition and time will tell if I'm the right person, but I've got a development background. It probably fits in well with my background."

As the team demographic becomes younger, Gray has been impressed with both the talent and dedication of the junior players in the club.

Some of the former Under 19s players have been "very committed" to their training, Gray said, and he expects 2020 to provide opportunities for the newcomers to make a name for themselves in the senior side.

"Hopefully they continue to improve and develop," he said. "It's no different to an NRL situation when you lose your best player at the start of the season, it's an opportunity for a young player to progress. It happens at all levels."

Strong numbers in both the junior club and the Under 19s squad give Gray hope that Crookwell's renowned production line of talented players will continue.

"That's what it's all about in small towns," he said.

"I've had a bit of a look at the juniors, and all the reports there are quite positive that they've got sides in a few age groups and numbers are pretty healthy.

"In small towns, you can't go on big spending sprees, you need to make sure you've got the young blood coming through. That's the best way for small towns to survive and prosper."

The season will get underway on Saturday, April 18, and so far Gray is pleased with the progress made by the squad.

"The boys that have been coming to training have shown good improvement and are enjoying it," he said.

"We're still hoping for more numbers, but overall it's been pretty good."

So far, Gray has focused on improving the players' fitness levels, and has slowly introduced skill-based drills in recent weeks.

"There's enough talent there but it's getting that consistency [which is the key]. We've been working hard on our fitness levels," he said.

"We've got our second fitness test coming up so the boys are pretty eager to see how their fitness has improved, that's one area that makes a big difference.

"We've put down a good platform at training and covered a lot of areas from basic skills to defense structures and patterns ahead of our first trial in a few weeks."

The team's first trial match will take place on March 21, against Cootamundra, and they will then play in the Boorowa Gala Day on April 4.

The Green Devils will play their first round of the George Tooke Shield on Saturday, April 18, against the Boorowa Rovers at Crookwell Memorial Oval from 2pm.