Hawks, Bombers and Bushpigs all open season with dominant victories

It wasn't until the 15 minute mark of the final term that Barellan scored their first behind as CSU started the season in style with a 11.14 (80) to 0.2 (2) win at Barellan Sportsground.

Played in torrential rain for the most part, CSU showed they were a class above and handled the conditions much better than the Two Blues.

First-year university student Ollie Wortley made a big impact on debut, while Paddy Inglis also showed his worth with three goals in his first outing as a Bushpig.

CSU co-coach Trent Cohalan was pleased to get the monkey off his back straight away.

"It was funny. I don't get nervous about footy or haven't done for a little while from a playing perspective I suppose because I've been around for a fair bit and you get used to it," Cohalan explained.

"I found early this week I was looking at outside factors a lot more than I normally would, as a coach you think about that stuff more where as a player you just go and do the job.

"It was really pleasing. We haven't reinvented the wheel by any stretch but we've certainly tweaked some things and put some more structure in, I suppose, in the way we want to go about things.

"It was pleasing to see to find a balance about playing what's in front of you, playing wet weather footy and still moving the footy how we want to, I think that was probably what was most pleasing for me.

"We still had moments where what we'd been coaching through the pre-season, we saw that. And obviously being able to adapt to the ordinary conditions, which certainly we haven't seen so far, that was probably the most pleasing part.

"But absolutely, if you told me we'd go to Barellan, who are tough at home, and win by 80 in round one, you'd certainly take it for sure."

Wortley, who hails from Hamilton, won more footy than anyone else on the ground and kicked two goals in a big debut for the Bushpigs.

Max Finlay and Lachie Holmes, who have won the past two best and fairests at CSU, started the year on song, while Paddy Inglis showed he will be a valuable addition forward with three goals in wet conditions.

New ruck Jack White showed good signs on debut for Barellan, while Jack Hillman tried hard all day.

CSU Bushpigs 4.6 9.7 10.10 11.14 (80)

Barellan Two Blues 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.2 (2)

GOALS: CSU Bushpigs: P.Inglis 3, O.Wortley 2, H.Wooden 2, T.Cohalan 1, S.Holgate 1, H.Wakefield 1, L.Holmes 1.

BEST: CSU Bushpigs: O.Wortley, M.Findlay, L.Holmes, P.Inglis, T.Cohalan, H.Robertson; Barellan Two Blues: J.Hillman, S.Bourchier, H.Morris, M.Irvin, B.Radovanovic, R.Irvin.

BLAKE and Caleb Walker shone up forward in Marrar's big win over Temora to start the season.

The Bombers started strongly and never let Temora into the contest during their 15.10 (100) to 5.7 (37) at Langtry Oval on Saturday.

The Walker brothers, in the absence of recruit Kieran Emery, starred and combined for seven goals between them.

The only man that shone brighter for Marrar was centre-half-back Harry Reynolds.

Marrar began with a six-goal opening term before wet weather kicked in.

Will Reinhold was the shining light for Temora and was by far and away their best player.

Marrar coach Cal Gardner was most impressed by the Bombers' defensive pressure that restricted Temora to just five goals.

"Really happy with the result. We've done a lot of work in the pre-season on our defensive game and that's probably what I'm most pleased out of it," Gardner said.

"When you look at the pressure we had on the ball carrier. I put emphasis before the game on when they had the footy, we just had to hunt them and we did that pretty well.

"The full field defence I guess, and we have certain stats that we look at to track that and those stats were in check for the majority of the game."

Gardner also liked the way his team moved the ball early on.

"It was nice and dry the first quarter and we moved the footy really well, transitioned from our defensive 50 to our attacking 50, we put everything into practice so that was really appealing," he said.

"Then the rain set in after that and they really adjusted to the wet weather quicker than we did for five or 10 minutes but then we stripped it back and started playing a bit more simpler like we had to and we ran the game out pretty well I thought."

In what was a relatively even performance from the Bombers, Jordan Hedington, Jake Brown and Zach Walgers were others to shine.

Marrar Bombers 6.3 8.6 11.9 15.10 (100)

Temora Kangaroos 2.2 3.5 3.6 5.7 (37)

GOALS: Marrar Bombers: B.Walker 4, C.Walker 3, J.Staines 2, Z.Walgers 2, J.Brown 1, H.Reynolds 1, C.Gardner 1, A.Kent 1; Temora Kangaroos: Z.Oliver 2, J.Cornell 1, W.Morshead 1, W.Reinhold 1

BEST: Marrar Bombers: H.Reynolds, B.Walker, C.Walker, J.Hedington, J.Brown, Z.Walgers; Temora Kangaroos: W.Reinhold, W.Morshead, J.Cornell, D.Leary, J.Cullen, M.Krause.

ALL of East Wagga-Kooringal's big name recruits stood tall in their opening round win over Coleambally.

Five unanswered goals in the second term helped establish a buffer as the Hawks went on to record a 15.12 (102) to 6.1 (37) win at Gumly Oval.

EWK coach Jake Barrett was dominant, as was fellow midfielders Jerry Maslin and Dylan Morton.

The game was called off shortly before full-time due to a serious injury to Barrett.

Hawks assistant coach Luke Gerhard said there were good signs for the club in their first proper hit-out.

"We started pretty slow and through the second quarter we showed some glimpses of the game style that we want to be playing. It was pleasing to see," Gerhard said.

"We've still got some areas to improve on, we were a little bit fumbly at times but all in all, it was a good win."

Gerhard also paid credit to Coleambally for the way they went about the contest.

"They played pretty well," he said.

"They're competitors and they competed all day. There is some good signs for them.

"They've obviously got a good coach, good structures, and they played some good footy."

EWK Hawks 3.2 8.6 12.9 15.12 (102)

Coleambally Blues 2.1 2.1 6.1 6.1 (37)

GOALS: EWK Hawks: J.Boumann 4, D.Morton 3, J.Turner 3, J.Maslin 2, J.Barrett 2, R.Bourne 1; Coleambally Blues: B.Goudie 1, N.Graham 1, T.Blissett 1, C.Bock 1, R.Best 1

BEST: EWK Hawks: J.Maslin, J.Barrett, D.Morton, J.Turner, R.Bourne, J.Boumann; Coleambally Blues: D.Mader, R.Best, J.Buchanan, T.Mannes, T.Blissett, H.Tooth.