In the blink of an eye Echuca effortlessly moved the Sherrin from the midfield into the forward line and straight through the big sticks.
What followed was a dominant victory on Jack Eddy Oval, with the Murray Bombers cruising to an 86-point victory against the Bulldogs.
But even with its on-field performance on-point, Echuca’s voyage to round one was anything but smooth sailing.
With the season pushed forward by at least a month, coach Damien Dalziel said it had been a frantic week leading up to the clash after finding out his team couldn’t play at its traditional home, Vic Park.
“It sounded great when they said you’d start a month earlier, but when you factor in cricket is still on the ovals, and there are practice matches, it’s very hard to organise around that when every oval is being used,” Dalziel said.
“When we found out we couldn’t be at Vic Park, we tried Moama, then we were able to get here (jack Eddy Oval).
“It was a rush to set up hats, there was no 50m arc, so we sprayed in blue paint to get through the day.
“Thankfully the umpires were great, and we followed the rules down to a tee.
“Hopefully that is the worst of our oval troubles for the season.”
And the disruption rarely showed on the field, with Echuca nailing five first quarter goals, before adding a further eight majors across the second half to cement itself as a team to beat right off the bat.
“It’s good,” Dalziel said.
“I said to the girls, it’s been a year and a bit, we’ve played a couple practice matches, but to get back out and playing, it’s really good.
“We’re at 70 per cent fitness base, and every week we can improve and get better.
“We had a few more experienced heads. That was the difference on the day, but we did get exposed a bit towards the end by their younger, fitter runners.
“It’s been a big day, and it’s good to start the season off with a win.”
Speaking about a stalemate that plagued the second quarter – Echuca managed only minor scores even with ball locked in its forward 50 - Dalziel said his team implemented a "high-risk, high-reward" style of play in the second half to open the game back up.
“It was an arm wrestle there and Tatura defensively bottled it up and when you do that, it stops you kicking goals,” Dalziel said.
“With a bit of wind that first quarter, it was a bit more free flowing. We had a chat about it at half-time to say let’s change it up, play with a bit of risk and switch the ball across the ground.”
With the bye this weekend, Echuca will return the following weekend to face Nathalia away before another week on the sidelines due to Easter.
“It’s not the best preparation, but we make the most of what the season is,” Dalziel said.
“It’s one week at a time. We take each game and see what the opposition brings.”
And just one game into its 10-round draw, the Murray Bombers aren’t shying away from their ultimate ambition of lifting up the premiership cup after their heartbreaking 2019 grand final defeat.
“We lost a grand final and now we want to win one. We’ll do whatever we have to to make that possible,” Dalziel said.
“The girls have all signed up and said that is what they want to do. There is nothing worse than losing one. We’ve been close every year, so I reckon it’s our turn to have a crack at it.”
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