Baker, 35, has been handed the reins after being in charge of training and preparing the Rams in 2009 while Peter Lovell was head coach.

“Last year Peter would handle game day and I would run the training sessions,” he said.

Baker, who also played last year and will suit up for the Rams again in 2010, said he was excited at the extra responsibility of coaching the team. “There are a few changes to be made,” he said.

“I think we need to change the way we play, not personnel changes, but positional. We changed things around in the semi-final last year and I thought it worked well and needed to be done sooner.”

Baker, who started playing senior hockey for Moorebank in Sydney when he was 21, said a top-three finish was high on the list of goals for the Rams.

“If we can finish third we’ll get a home semi-final,” he said. “We finished in fourth last year after dropping four or five games at the end the season and we got bundled out of the finals because we had to travel to the Central Coast. A top-two finish would be great, but we’re being realistic at the moment and focusing on just getting that home semi.”

Baker, who calls on more than 25 years of hockey experience, said the Rams intended to turn Maitland Hockey Complex into a fortress, where other clubs dreaded playing. “It’d be good to go the season undefeated at home,” he said.

That good home ground form could start in round one, with the Rams likely to face defending premiers Souths. “The draw hasn’t been released yet, but it’s usually the same each year, which means we’ll play Souths either at Maitland or at Broadmeadow,” Baker said.

Before the Hunter Cup semi-final at Broadmeadow yesterday, Baker said he didn’t know the last time his team had beaten Souths.

Maitland almost broke that hoodoo when they completed regular time yesterday 2-all, only to be pipped at the post to go down 3-2 in golden goal extra time.