"It's not looking very good at all," Mitchell said.

"We've lost 30 players and we've only replaced about 12.

"There's got to be clubs that have got too many players or blokes who aren't getting a full game. We need them just to keep our club going."

Mitchell said the Superoos' woes began when the reserves claimed a drought-breaking premiership last year.

"We hadn't won a reserves premiership for 38 years, or something like that, and as it turned out, winning one was the worst thing we could do," he said. "Most of them were older players and they've all retired."

The headaches continued at senior level when the Superoos lost their top-four placegetters in last year's best-and-fairest.

Two have departed the club for work reasons, another due to the 65km distance between Mitiamo and Bendigo, where most players live, while Ryan Haythorpe, who was last year's captain, is playing at Sandhurst in the higher-standard Bendigo Football League.

"Then we had a practice match earlier this month and the guy who came fifth in our best-and-fairest broke his hand in two places, so he's out for 10 weeks," Mitchell said.

"There's been no upheaval in the club and no one has left unhappy - it's just a bad year."

The Superoos appointed a new coach, former Mt Pleasant mentor Denis Grinton, in November, after a poor 2012 season in which they won just three games and missed finals for the first time since 2006.

Mitchell, in his 13th year as president, said the club had been in a similar situation in 2000.

"The first year I took over, we'd done the same thing - won a premiership, but in the seniors that time, in 1999," he said. "I think we lost nine or 10 senior players and the coach retired. It took us 10 years before we won our next flag (in 2009)."

Mitchell said the club would try to field a reserves team this season"but we'll be Dad's army".

"People who have played in the past have rang me and said they'll fill in. We'll get there, but it will be a real struggle," he said.

"But any genuine players who want a good country club and a home-cooked meal on Thursdays and after home games, we'll look after them."

He said the club was forced to pull the pin on its under-17s as it had just five local players committed to the team.

"The past five years we've been struggling, but I've been able to get enough kids from Bendigo to make up the numbers," he said.

"Last year we combined with Serp (Bears Lagoon-Serpentine) to make a team but this year they haven't got one junior."

Anyone interested in playing for Mitiamo can phone Mitchell on 0429 882 204.