It's the tough love from his brothers that Colingullie-Glenfield Park product Harry Perryman needed before his star display against Geelong on Sunday, but the AFL's suspended season means his strong start has already come to an abrupt halt.

Perryman booted four goals and racked up 20 disposals in arguably the best game of his career thus far, but it will be his last for several weeks after the AFL postponed games until at least May 31 on Sunday.

A noted homebody who loves nothing more than getting back to the family farm whenever he can, Perryman's mother Liz said he was struggling to deal with the segregation of the coronavirus outbreak pre-game.

But the 21-year-old was close to best on ground as the Giants strolled to a 32-point victory.

Local footy has also been put on hold until the end of May and his siblings Nick, Ed and Joe wasted no time giving him a dose of perspective before the AFL followed suit.

"He was a bit flat before the game with everything that's been happening and his brothers got into him and said 'just be happy you're playing," Liz said.

"It must have worked because he went out and had a great game.

"He struggles to adjust to Sydney at the best of times and he's a bit confined because he misses the farm quite a lot.

We were going to go the game but we sat in our lounge room and watched it and cheered on the goals with some friends."

Playing mostly on the wing, Perryman finished last season strongly and began where he left off against the Cats.

He is off contract at the end of this season, with the AFL putting contract deals on hold in the current uncertain climate.

"I've been trying to get on the scoreboard which was a big focus of the pre-season, work on fitness and get some more time in the midfield," Perryman told Giants media.

"I was pretty lucky to get onto a couple and I got a couple of cheapies.

"It was a bit weird (playing in front of no crowd. I played a few games of NEAFL in front of no one, so it wasn't too different.

"You keep thinking about what's going to happen next week and the week after, but we'll look forward to next week if we play."

Leeton-Whitton product Jacob Hopper also enjoyed a superb start to his campaign, racking up 22 disposals, seven marks and three tackles through the Giants' midfield.

Perryman and Hopper's displays were part of a memorable round one for Riverina stars after Leeton-Whitton product Jacob Townsend delivered a stellar club debut in Essendon's thrilling one-goal win over Fremantle on Saturday.

The Dockers dominated the last quarter to give the Bombers a fright, but the 26-year-old's three goals from nine disposals proved crucial for his new club.

Townsend played 48 games for Greater Western Sydney and Richmond before he was snapped up by Essendon via the pre-season supplemental selection period in December.

He could prove a vital cog for the Bombers with key forwards Joe Daniher and Shaun McKernan currently unavailable due to injury.

"It's very exciting to win early when we don't know what's going to happen in the next few weeks," Townsend told Essendon media after the game.

"We tried our best to get beaten, but it's nice to hold on and take some things out of it we can improve on.

"I've played in front of some big crowds before and Essendon have a big fan base too, (so that was strange)."

Riverina product Alyce Parker racked up a game-high 23 disposals in the Giants' three-point AFLW semi final loss to Melbourne.

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