North Sportsman’s enter the 2021-22 Hoggies Wines Barber Shield season in familiar territory as the hunted.

The Tigers have tamed the Mount Gambier and District Cricket Association world in the last three summers and are hungry to score a significant four peat and stand on the same pedestal as the great side of 2001-05.

For the third straight summer, explosive allrounder Nick McInerney will lead the team and is confident with a similar side under his wing.

“We are very excited and are shaping up to be a pretty strong outfit,” he said.

“We have a fairly similar group to last year which is awesome.

“There is a good culture around the club at the moment which is why people keep coming back.

“The standard has been good at training, so we are hungry to keep winning.”

The main squad only has one significant change with the departure of keeper and top order batter Brad Stafford, who has moved away from the Limestone Coast.

But there was never any doubt over who will take over the gloves with Mitch Lewis ready to reaffirm his spot behind the stumps in a move which speaks to North’s depth.

The new arrival to Tigerland is former Adelaide University batting allrounder Tom Robertson.

Robertson has tasted the height of first grade district cricket in Adelaide and has experienced the ups and downs of the sport.

He has compiled over 2000 runs and 100 wickets for Adelaide University but was also forced to wait 2178 days between A Grade caps.

The addition of a well-rounded cricketer such as Robertson will not be welcome news for the rest of the competition.

North is the class of the MGDCA playing in the last seven deciders with the pace battery of McInerney, Tim Young and Declan Kenny the key alongside strong batters such as Jake Schutz and Michael Johnston, who are names to watch.

Unlike last season, McInerney will be keen to hit the ground running in a Grand Final rematch to open the season and earmarked youngsters Zach Clark and Isaac Mulraney to step up.