After a credible inaugural season the Western Sydney Wanderers looked poised to appear in their first finals series in Season 6.

Well, that was the plan.

Strong off-season recruiting of established Matildas Kyah Simon, Heather Garriock and Emily van Egmond and newly promoted Matildas Alanna Kennedy and Mackenzie Arnold were set to see Western Sydney contend for the premiership and championship but injuries and instability put paid to those aspirations.

This time round, with a new coach on board and a new look squad, the expectations surrounding the newest W-League club are vastly different.

[More: Wanderers turn to youth for 2014]

Last season's assistant coach Norm Boardman has been endorsed as the new head coach and compiled a youthful squad filled with some of the best young talent from the Western Sydney region.

The squad is a mix of seasoned campaigners and a host of players, selected from over 60 triallists, getting their chance at the W-League.

With so many W-League first timers, Boardman has no illusions about the task ahead but also enters his first W-League season with optimism.

"I would love to make the finals," said Boardman.

"We will take a little time to develop but we want to make the finals."

Those receiving an opportunity are Football NSW Institute products including Victoria Guzman, Rhianna Pollicina and Tia Gavin, to name a couple.

Guzman, Pollicina, Gavin and co were part of the Football NSW Institute squad that recently captured the NSW Women's Premier League title; a momentous achievement considered 3 months ago the squad was at the bottom of the table.

[More: Season 7 Squads]

That growth and improvement is what Boardman is hoping can be emulated in the course of the admittedly short W-League season.

"Technically they are all pretty good and there is a lot of athleticism around the group," he said of the local league products.

"There is a lot of belief that they can handle it. Our girls can play football; there are no two ways about that."

"The area they are going to have to get to is they are going to have to grow up very quickly."

To facilitate that growth Boardman is looking to his senior players including defender Caitlin Cooper, striker Michelle Carney and newly acquired international Keelin Winters.

Winters will be a key player for the Wanderers on and off the pitch. A natural leader, Winters captained the USA to the U20 World Cup title in 2008 and the Seattle Reign to the NWSL premiership in 2014.

Boardman believes Cooper, Carney and, in particular, Winters can assist in establishing the professional atmosphere and culture for the Wanderers.

"Keelin is a good leader on and off the field. Inspirational, she has good leadership qualities and she is a really good person."

"That is the type of person we want at our club. We not only want good footballers, we want good people to build this club."

As for the football on the pitch, the Wanderers will be aiming to set the tone early and not be the competitions "easy beats".

"The key is going to be "go out and play" and have a red hot go at playing football and attacking the other teams."

While finals are the ultimate goal, Boardman is also looking to build for the future and a strong showing in Season 7 is integral to those plans.

"Whatever happens at the end of the season, I want to make sure there is a footprint in the sand," he stated emphatically.

"That footprint is a good culture, a good football culture and we want to build on what the men have already established within the club and that is a belief that they want to play for the shirt and they want to part of the Western Sydney Wanderers."