More than half — four out of six — of last weekend’s season-opening slate of games carried margins of 15 goals or more, not that those were all necessarily shocks.
It was an excellent way to kick the year off for almost every side which contested finals last season, with the only match-up pitting two September teams against one another also serving a rightfully competitive spectacle.
Euroa provided no such thriller in its generally expected steamrolling of a considerably younger Kyabram outfit, but the Magpies will embark on arguably the game of the round in a rematch of the past two A-grade grand finals with Echuca.
The Magpies and Murray Bombers, it goes without saying, are used to flying high — and meeting one another with everything to play for.
However, the two teams come in having pocketed four points in wildly different manners.
While Euroa was hardly challenged, albeit hardly expected to be, in its twilight victory over the Bombers out west, the 2023 premiers had to scratch and claw for 60 straight minutes to overcome a plucky Shepparton United in a manner matched by their footballing counterparts at Victoria Park.
It means a variety of different things heading into Saturday afternoon’s clash in the Goulburn Valley’s south-east, first and foremost that the home side will need to go up a notch or two to repeat the heroics which produced that long-elusive flag last September.
Alongside that showdown at the top of this weekend’s card will be a highly intriguing meeting a bit further down the Hume as Seymour welcomes Shepparton Swans to Kings Park.
With both sides having posted 59 goals in impressive round one victories, these hopefuls have done the jobs expected of them to this point.
With the Swans right alongside United as the best of the rest last year, maintaining every aspiration of cracking into that cut-throat upper echelon in 2025, new Lions coach Casey Adamson — unbeaten in the top job — knows everything will be hard-earned this weekend.
“They’re coming off a really good win, so I definitely think they’ll be up for the challenge come Sunday,” Adamson said.
“Every time we’ve come up against them, it’s been a good tussle; when it’s a really challenging team, you tend not to get those high scores as much.
“It’s about trying to find our feet and work combinations. We’ve got lots of depth and versatility across our squad and we’ll continue to work with that.
“I’ve had quite a few good coaches across my time and I bring a real tactical and structural focus to our team.
“I never thought I’d be a coach myself, but I’m just trying to allow the players to flourish.”
As the season takes shape with four other clashes, Mooroopna will aim for bigger things heading into a fascinating three-week stretch between rounds three and five when Rochester visits the Cattery.
Shepparton will make a sizeable trip on the Midland Hwy with intentions to leave an even bigger mark on Benalla than the Swans did last weekend, while Tatura will be hopeful of kick-starting its campaign in a home opener against Kyabram.
Finally, Shepparton United will return to the Deakin Reserve confines fresh off that confidence-inspiring display against Echuca, tasked with knocking over visiting Mansfield.
