Few did it with the brilliance of Ganmain-Grong Grong-Matong's Lucas Hatty in their under 13s game against Wagga Tigers.

The Lions' forward kicked eight goals at Ganmain Sportsground, all before half-time! It was a thrilling start to his season and a day that had a little bit of everything.

"He kicked eight in the first half and we thought, right, that's enough for you," his coach, Scott Crozier, said.

"We put him in the back-line in the third quarter and then he actually played for Wagga Tigers in the last quarter to try to stem the tide a little bit.

"He did well. It didn't matter where he went, the ball just ended up in his hands.

"He's one of our most keen footballers and he was going to be devastated if it didn't go ahead."

It was a comprehensive opening win, 21.11 (137) to 1.0 (6), but defending premiers Turvey Park will provide a gauge this week, after they also enjoyed a big victory, against North Wagga.

Crozier said the flying start was something of a surprise but testament to their desperation to play.

"They were really keen. It didn't matter to them how many times they had to clean their hands or anything else, they just wanted to get out there and play," Crozier said.

"It was a bit of a surprise but it was a good win actually."

The Lions didn't field a team in the under 12s last year but have quite a few who played 13s a year early and they are keen to see how they stack up.

Now in their third season since switching from South West Juniors, the move is paying off with GGGM fielding teams in all junior grades bar the under 14s football.

"We've definitely grown as a club. We're picking up some numbers, which is promising," GGGM Juniors president Matt Hatty said, adding that the club didn't want to risk losing momentum this year.

"With the gains we've made we felt the whole way along that we needed to be involved if it went ahead because we couldn't afford to miss out if other clubs were playing."

He said after a hectic build-up, their opening round went off sweetly, on the ground and off it.

"We had good weather and a couple of our competitive teams had solid wins. Our 12s had a pretty good win too, and this is the first time we've had an under 12s so that was good and to beat a strong club like Wagga Tigers was pleasing," he said.

"And the netballers had a couple of good wins in a couple of grades."