The Blues, whose last win was at The Rock in early May last year, recovered from a Pies' comeback to win 14.5 (89) to 11.13 (79).

In a sign of their intent, this year's win brought a measured response from co-coach Mitch Carroll, unlike last year's sheer jubilation at racking up what would be their only win for the year.

"It was nervous smiles for a while there but that's how Coly does it. We do it the hard way," Carroll said.

"We know within our own group what our expectations are and if we're going to be up by four or five goals and let it slip, it wouldn't have been good enough. But credit to the boys, we kicked a few goals and held strong in the last quarter. But it wasn't ideal."

While the Pies kicked seven behinds before their first goal, the Blues were the opposite with seven straight goals on the way to a 26-point half-time lead.

However, TRYC stormed back with 5.5 in the third quarter to start the last two points in front.

"We just stopped, we put the cue in the rack a bit early," Carroll said.

With the game in the balance, the Blues lifted and another five-goal quarter got them home by 10 points, despite five fewer scoring shots.

NT import Raven Marika was outstanding finishing with four goals.

"He was good. He was very lively. We're very excited about him," Carroll said.

"He makes football look easier than it should be. But he's good at bringing other players into the game. He's a good team player."

Darcy Mader's effort in the ruck also set the Blues on track for a good performance while Tom Groves and Curtis Steele impressed in the middle, key forward Dwayne Weetra finished with four goals and Charlie McAdam was also good on a wing.

The Pies were left to lament their second horror start in as many games and another comeback that didn't quite come off, leaving them winless after two rounds.

Andy Carey kicked three goals after a tough battle with Tom Morton all day. Jim Carroll, Tom Yates and Lachy Myers led TRYC's efforts. They head to Marrar after Easter desperate for a win.

The Blues will travel to Temora keen to build on their four points after recovering from last week's horror show at Gumly.

"Oh yeah, 100 percent - last week was a bit of a letdown," Carroll said.

"But you can look at it differently. We had East Wagga first up and they were up and about and are probably the yardstick of the competition. But there's a lot of good signs with our team and hopefully we can keep putting things together a bit better."

Hamstring injuries to Todd Clarke and Jackson Painting were disappointing but a sound return from Dean Pound at centre-half-back was another positive for the Blues.

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