The South African pre-season period has been filled with talk about the congested Absa Premiership schedule that lies ahead and when the ball finally gets rolling next weekend, clubs with the most depth are likely to suffer the least pain from having to finish the league programme by February.
With room being made for Bafana Bafana to get the best possible preparation for the 2010 World Cup finals, league champions SuperSport United and the 15 other hopefuls will play their 30 matches over the course of six months, considering there will be no club games during January.
That's when Bafana coach Joel Santana plans to take his men to Brazil for a training camp while the top nations on the continent compete in the African Nations Cup in Angola.
SuperSport will aim to become only the second club to win three league titles in a row since the launch of the Premier Soccer League in the 1996-97 season, which would make Gavin Hunt the first coach to lift three titles in a row in a personal capacity.
This will be viewed as a good incentive against opposition from the Gauteng 'Big Three' of Kaizer Chiefs, Orlando Pirates and Sundowns, who have been the busiest in the transfer market as usual.
Respected TV analyst Deshi Bhaktawer is one of those who believes most teams would adopt a rotation policy to help themselves overcome the gruelling programme and injuries and suspensions.
'It is going to be a testing season, especially for players in the national team, because they will have to cope with the club schedule plus international matches and training camps.
'Club coaches should use their national team players sparingly.
'If you don't have a strong squad, you are going to battle,' he said.
Bhaktawer, a top goalkeeper in his day, reckons SuperSport will be in the running for honours again this season.
'They will be one of the toughest sides to beat. Hunt has a successful formula in place and he will stay with that, if not improve it even further.
'We are also likely to see more consistency from Chiefs and Pirates because it's about time they won the league again as the country's two biggest clubs.'
The last of Pirates' two titles came in 2002/03, while Chiefs won it over the next two seasons.
As for the Durban hopefuls, Golden Arrows would be happy to finish in the top five again in the absence of transferred stars Papi Zothwane and Kagisho Dikgacoi; AmaZulu wish to cement their place in the top eight with Dumisani Ngwenya leading the line again; while Maritzburg United have signed almost a dozen players in the hope of avoiding relegation trouble and being in the top eight instead.
'It will be interesting to see how Jomo Cosmos perform, having come up from the lower league but with experience of how the big league works,' said Bhaktawer. Of the players to watch, Bhaktawer said those who excelled in recent time, such as Teko Modise of Pirates, Siphiwe Tshabalala of Chiefs and Daine Klate of SuperSport, would again be the ones to watch, with the possibility of a couple of youngsters coming through as well.
New faces in the league include Warren Bishop, a defender from Pretoria University who has joined AmaZulu, and Phenyo Mongala, another Tukkies star who has been snapped up by Orlando Pirates.
The trend of players coming back from overseas to turn out for local clubs has continued, with Siyabonga Nkosi and Siyabonga Nomvete featuring for SuperSport United and Moroka Swallows respectively after spells abroad.
Bhaktawer was not the only one who warned about fatigue.
'The players will take a beating this season. Their bodies will be tested to the max and this will be a gruelling season,' Santos interim coach Boebie Solomons has been quoted as saying.
'As a former player I can tell you it's tough to play so often. I have spoken to sport scientists and they told us of the harm our players face but advised us how to deal with the predicted injuries. It (injuries) will happen, but we are putting our players through the best preparation.'
But the competitive Hunt is not overly concerned about the fixtures and feels his team would be able to handle them in a confident and competitive manner.
He said a lot of clubs were panicking over nothing as regards the short Premiership season.
'A lot of clubs are over-reacting to the short season,' he said.
'Sure, we might play games every three days for a while, but there are plenty of rest periods with Fifa dates, so while it will be a test, there is nothing to worry about in my mind.
'We simply have to get on with it. Playing regularly is good for players and coaches. It keeps us sharp and on our toes.'
Let the games begin!