Jets W-League coach Craig Deans said his side faced a "very challenging" but potentially rewarding season after the loss of Matildas star Emily van Egmond and any imports.
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The Jets announced on Monday that Van Egmond and leading scorer Cortnee Vine would not be back next season. Van Egmond, on the comeback from ankle surgery, is expected to join another W-League club. Americans Britt Eckerstrom, Katie Stengel, Taylor Smith and Arin Gilliland-Wright are also not returning and Deans confirmed that the club would not have overseas players.
The change comes as the club looks to cut costs because of Jets owner Martin Lee's business troubles.
Deans said the club would be focusing on local talent and other Australian players in a switch that would "make sure the W-League side is around and viable".
"It is what it is, but it's a good opportunity for all of the young girls to put their hand up," Deans said.
"They've been wanting more opportunities and they are going to get them now. It's a matter of them working hard and having a crack.
"We spend a lot of money on an academy and we're the only club in the country with a female academy, so we need to start using those players, and the ones who came up last year contributed well to the team.
"There's no point having an academy and all these players coming through if you are not going to give them a chance. They obviously need to be good enough but for us to run an academy, we need to make the most of it.
"We could put all the money we spend on an academy into buying a team that could win the league every year, but that's not what we are as a club. We want to give the kids in the area a chance."
The Jets missed the finals for eight seasons before Van Egmond and an American contingent helped them make it in 2017-18.
Deans was confident of retaining the rest of his squad from 2018-19 and adding to it with Australian prospects. New Lambton's Lauren Allan has been trialling and Deans was looking at other players from outside the region.
He said the season ahead "will be very challenging but rewarding if we can do some damage".
"I think it's a good challenge for everyone and if we all work hard, coaches included, we can cause some trouble for some people," he said. "But obviously there's a lot of clubs with a lot more high-profile players and we can't compete with them, and we're not going to.
"We get messed around with players every year who want to come here ... and they are really only using us to get more money somewhere else, and we're not going to have that problem with using girls from Newcastle, because they really want to play for Newcastle.
"Everyone is going to say we'll come last and you can't win without Americans and senior Matildas, and maybe they are right, but we'll give it a go. It will be enjoyable either way, especially if we get some young players like Tess [Tamplin] and Teigan [Collister] jump up and do well like they did last year."
Van Egmond said through a club statement on Monday that: "This is my hometown club, and I couldn't be more appreciative of everything that Newcastle has done for me.
"The decision made not to return to the Jets was one based purely on footballing reasons, and I can't say thank you enough to Deansy and everyone involved in the club over the years for everything they've done for me.
"Being a Newcastle girl, it's been a privilege to play in Jets colours for as much of my career as I have with such a good group of girls and I'd like to wish them the best of luck for the upcoming season."
