Roscommon selector Ger Dowd says the county are determined to put together back-to-back Connacht titles for the first time in over 25 years.
The Rossies demolished favourites Galway by nine points in last year's final and have taken motivation from the clash between the Tribesmen and Mayo earlier this month being billed as the decisive game in the province.
The last time the county successfully defended the provincial title was in 1991.
Kevin McStay's side begin their campaign on Saturday with a semi-final against Leitrim, who scraped by New York in extra-time.
"We were delighted with the way the campaign went last year," Dowd told RTÉ Sport. "It was great to turn the tables on Galway in Pearse Stadium. We were very proud of that.
"It is something Roscommon haven't done in a long long time is to try and retain it and go back-to-back. That's something we're looking at and hoping to achieve. It's one of our aims.
"Obviously, all the talk was about Mayo and Galway and 'the big two' as people see it, but we like to think that we will have something to say in that argument as the season goes on too.
"But at the moment we can only focus on Leitrim and that's the way it is. That is our only focus, the first-round game.
"As a management team we’re long enough around to know and we’ve seen so many upsets in the past to know that anything that can happen in a game of football."
The winner of Galway-Sligo awaits Roscommon or Leitrim in the final on 17 June.
Galway are seen as one of the form teams in the country after their run to the Allianz Football League final but Roscommon also had a successful spring, bouncing straight back to Division 1 and picking up the Division 2 title along the way.
"There is no doubt about it, Galway have progressed," admitted Dowd. "They're getting better. they’ve made the jump up to Division 1 football this year and they’ve reacted well to that.
"We don't want to be too defensive and we want to try and play football like we think we can"
"They had a great league campaign and that will give them a lot of confidence going forward playing the top teams. Their performance even in the league final, whilst the didn't get over the line, they certainly put it up to Dublin for large periods.
"Down was the only defeat we've had in competitive action so we were really happy with that and really happy to get back up to Division 1.
"We're trying to play attractive football. We don't want to be too defensive and we want to try and play football like we think we can.
"We are not the biggest side in the world yet we feel we are quite skillful and that's the type of game we want to play."
Roscommon have been boosted by the return of flair forward Cathal Cregg and the Daly brothers Niall, Ronan and Conor, who were all absent for last year's Championship campaign.
"It just didn't suit last year for various reasons but they've come back in and they have been very positive around the place and have impacted hugely," said Dowd.
"We feel we have a stronger squad now and Cathal coming on in the final, he scored 2-1 and he is so sharp.
"He is still that kind of player that can arrive at the pitch of the game straight away. He has that ability and he doesn't need that much time to get up to the pace of game. On his day he is one of the best forwards around. He's a lethal finisher and you'd back him in a one-on-one with anybody."
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