Collingullie-Glenfield Park made the statement of the Riverina League opening round, trouncing fellow premiership aspirant Turvey Park by 46 points on Saturday.
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The Demons lived up to an air of confidence surrounding the club over the off-season by running the Bulldogs ragged early on their way to a 17.11 (113) to 10.6 (66) victory at Crossroads Oval.
The win was delivered by a first-quarter knockout blow, with Collingullie-GP piling on the first nine goals of the contest before Turvey Park were able to find their feet.
The Bulldogs were simply blown out of the water early, being out-hunted and out-run and only managed to stop the momentum with their first goal 30 seconds before the quarter-time siren.
While the Demons midfield was where it started, Ed Perryman produced a masterclass up forward, kicking four first-quarter goals, as well as setting up at least one other.
Perryman went on to kick five goals in a best-on-ground performance and stamp himself as arguably the most exciting young player in the region.
His brother, Nick, enjoyed a win in his first game as Collingullie-GP co-coach and was delighted to start the year in such a manner.
"It's good, really good," Perryman said of his first win as coach.
"There were a few nerves in the lead up but the last few days, it was just getting back to footy and just playing.
"We prepared really well and in the back of our mind, we knew we were in pretty good shape but to have that first quarter was pretty pleasing."
The nine-goal opening term, which set up a 51-point lead at the first change, was the obvious highlight.
"I thought we were pretty sharp in the first quarter, and the first half," he said.
"The sting went out of the game a little bit, we dropped off a little bit in that second half but they're a quality side and have got some quality young young kids who can run so it was always going to happen.
"It was just pleasing, the effort from new guys coming in and guys stepping up from last year. Everyone played their role, which was really good."
While much of the talk pre-season was about Collingullie's recruits it was usual suspects that led the charge.
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Nick Perryman led from the front in the midfield, Harry Radley provided dash and drive from half-back and Harry Wichman was good on a wing.
Then there was the returning players like Steve Jolliffe, who provided spark on-ball and forward and kicked three goals, and Matt Klemke who adds another layer to the midfield.
Perryman said it was the Demons' contested work that impressed him most.
"I think we were just really good around the contest. If we can be good around the contest then it sets our game up," he said.
"I think we've got some pretty good players forward of the footy and if we can win it around the contest then it goes a long way for our footy."
The Demons are still to welcome back two-time league medallist Jayden Klemke, and highly-touted key forward recruit Andrew Clifford, among others.
Perryman acknowledges the signs are positive.
"I think so. We had our contest stuff pretty good today, but some of our skills need to improve still," he said.
"We wanted to be really good at the contest today, we knew it was going to be scrappy contest and now we can work on improving our skills. I didn't think we used Sam Stening very well today. We knew if our contested stuff was good that it could cover over a few cracks, which was good."
It was not the start Turvey Park had hoped for, also on the back of their own promising off-season.
If you take the opening quarter out of the contest, they came out four points on top but the damage was done early.
The shining light of a dirty day was young forward Baxter Wallett, who was brilliant with a six-goal haul.
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