Newcastle launch their 2021-22 A-League Women season against arch rivals Sydney at Netstrata Jubilee Stadium on December 4, giving them around six weeks to prepare for the defending premiers.

The Jets have featured in the national women's league finals just twice and it has been a poor showing on the points table since they finished third in 2017-18.

"It's no secret that we didn't perform on the ladder as well as we wanted to last year," Wilson told the Newcastle Herald.

"Pre-season is about addressing those little extra one per centers that we need to keep working through to make sure that we build on last season and we achieve what we want to achieve.

"A lot of teams are going to have very similar goals around making finals football. So, it's really about the processes that we want to instil and make sure that the girls are really buying into that because we all have to make sure that we're accountable to be successful this year."

Eleven of the 14 Jets players already confirmed are returning from last season with four more still to be announced.

New recruits - midfielder Lucy Johnson, defender Kirsty Fenton and goalkeeper Georgia Boric - add squad competition, but possibly most exciting will be what impact two yet-to-be-named overseas players can add to the Jets this campaign. Newcastle have not had an import for the past two seasons.

"Being able to get the bulk of last year's squad back gives that continuity and more opportunity to keep building on those relationships that were already developing last year," Wilson said.

"We could see glimpses of some really exciting things coming from those players. I'm very keen to keep working with what we had and building on that.

"We are bringing in two internationals. They're still playing within their competitions at the moment. The club has supported me to look overseas and I'm excited to see what they're going to bring.

"The biggest thing for us is how that training environment is going to continue to be competitive and pushing to strengthen and build on what happened last year."

Long-serving Jets goalkeeper Claire Coelho is back.

Defenders Hannah Brewer, Gema Simon, Tiana Jaber and Taren King have all been re-signed.

Retained forwards include Tara Andrews, Sunny Franco, Lauren Allan, Sophie Harding and Jemma House.

The only midfielders confirmed so far are Jets co-captain Cassidy Davis, who is closing in on her 100^th milestone match, and league debutante Johnson.

"We've added a few players to the mix, so I'm really excited to see how some of the new faces, like Lucy and Kirsty, are going to come into the environment and push for opportunities," Wilson said.

"I believe the more people that you bring in that are keen to take on those opportunities is going to increase the competitiveness at training."

Training begin within testing yesterday. The Jets women will train five nights a week during pre-season with Wilson planning trial matches in November.

Only the first four rounds of the A-League Women have been confirmed to date. The Jets' first home game will be against newcomers Wellington Phoenix at McDonald Jones Stadium on December 10 as part of a double-header with their A-League Men counterparts.

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