Ben Brown admits he needs to add more strings to his bow if he’s going to replicate his break-out 2016 season.

The key-forward is in Utah with 19 of his teammates, getting a head start on pre-season training before the full squad returns to Arden Street next week.

With Drew Petrie’s departure, further responsibility will fall on the shoulders of the number 50.

“That’s going to be an important thing for me, to try to add a couple more tricks to my bag over the pre-season and to make sure I’m not too predictable to opposition defenders,” Brown told The Herald Sun.

“Just to find those one or two more tricks and keep developing physically, which I’m probably still doing, to make sure I’m stronger and faster than I have been before.

“It might be a case of having to take on a slightly different role, but ... I’m only in my fourth year and it’s still about improvement for me and I’m still trying to find my way.’’

Brown said enthusiasm is high among the Roos’ youngsters in Utah.

Rather than dwelling on the loss of more than 1500 games of experience, the players will do their all to make the most of their chances in 2017.

“The main thing that has stuck out for me, particularly the young guys who I’m spending my time with over these next couple of weeks, are pretty excited to be beginning the pre-season because we see that there is a fair bit of opportunity for our younger guys to come in that previously haven’t had an opportunity to break into the side,” Brown said.

“There are a few guys that can maybe taste their first game at AFL level or to really break into the side and cement their spot, which is really exciting for them.

“It’s not so much that we talk directly about that, but it’s more that you can feel from the actions of the players that have come across ... the way that they have applied themselves in the off-season and come back in good nick ready for pre-season and ready to go and on the training track everyone is pretty sharp and looking to improve.

“That’s the main thing I’ve really noticed — a lot of the young guys have come into pre-season in really good shape and ready to push their case for Round 1, 2017.’’

Brown said the Roos weren’t concerned about external perceptions of their young list and the challenges they might face.

“There will be fresh faces, but I think from our perspective we just want to keep winning and that means trying to harness the youthful enthusiasm that we have got going at the moment,’’ he added.

“We have got a lot of young guys coming in and a few young guys from other clubs who are really keen to play good footy — we have Nathan Hrovat, who has been part of the team that won the Grand Final last year. He is really excited about getting into it with this new club. I think we can ride off that and really take it into next year.

“It’s definitely hard to replace a guy like Boomer Harvey, who has played 432 games. It’s difficult to directly replace that experience, but we are going to be putting in as much effort as we possibly can to try and get this team up the ladder.’’