Replacing Rod Henderson, who steered the Tigers to two consecutive premierships, Cleaton has opted to leave his attacking midfield role as a player on the pitch to concentrate on his coaching duties from the sideline.

Setting his sights high in his debut coaching season, Cleaton has great confidence in his players.

"I'm one of the older players in the team, a vocal leader in the team and I had a bit of influence on the younger players, so I'm happy to take the role," Cleaton said.

"I want to keep the club on top and to be minor premiers and premiers this season."

Cleaton, associated with the club for almost two decades, pins his hopes of achieving success on the majority of players who secured the 2011 premiership.

"I'm trying to keep the core of the group from last season and consolidate on what we've got," Cleaton said.

The Tigers were the M-League's top scorers last year, with 47 goals in the regular season.

That's a winning way Cleaton hopes will continue.

"We played attacking style and it's worked," he said.

"But we leaked a few goals, so I'll be hoping to add a few more clean sheets.

"Everyone wants to knock us off because we are premiers.

"We have a couple of young guns in reserves knocking on the door, so it makes it more competitive for first grade and a bit of competition across all positions is a good thing for the side."

Cleaton realises the Tigers will face some tough games, as many teams will lift their game in a bid to lower the Tigers' colours.

"It's a good culture here," he said.

"Every team loves to hate the Tigers — it's always an us and them mentality," he said.

"It's a strong competition in our local area and the quality in teams is there and it's getting better every year."

New Tigers signings include Rob Anderson, Patty Haynes, Joel Harvey, Ryan Kearns and Dave Twiss.

Losses were Jules Lopez (retired) and Blake Cleminson (joined Mount Annan Mustangs).