The Cobar Roosters were handed the trickiest start to the Castlereagh League season of any side, but you wouldn't have known it on Saturday.
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The Roosters kicked off the 2024 campaign in style as they thumped the Narromine Jets 58-14 at Tom Knight Oval.
Last season's runners-up ran in 10 tries against a side tipped by many to be one of the top contenders this season.
Things don't get any easier for Cobar as next week its a road trip to take on defending premiers Gulgong, before clashes with the pre-season knockout runners-up then winners, Baradine and Coolah.
"We've got some tough games first-up and we'll really see where we're at after that," Cobar co-captain-coach Tom Plater said.
"If we can get through those first four rounds with four wins, we'd be sitting pretty nice.
"That's the goal, but we've got to get it done."
If the draw didn't provide enough motivation, the Cobar Roosters had already wanted to start the season well.
The Roosters have regularly been in the mix come finals time, but starting the season hasn't always been a strong point for the club.
Plater and his new co-captain-coach Loma Atuau, back at the club after another stint with Nyngan, were determined to be better and the result was clear to see against the Jets.
"We were actually able to come out and score twice before we'd even done any defence," Plater said.
"It was good to be able to identify something and then get it done.
"Our forward pack played awesome. They just rolled through the middle against a pretty handy forward pack. I was really proud of the boys for being able to do that.
"The forwards gave us the momentum and the go-forward to get us going and we were able to play off the back off that."
Atuau, a standout in the Nyngan pack previously, scored a double on his latest Cobar debut, while hooker Plater and Castlereagh League representatives Ashley Davies and Tyler Coughlan were among the other eight try-scorers.
Plater was delighted to have Atuau back in Roosters colours and it added to what is a hugely positive feel around the club.
The Roosters under 18s are back this season and also won on Saturday in front of a bumper crowd while the league tag outfit was beaten by a slick Narromine side.
Elsewhere in round one, defending premiers Gulgong proved an off-season exodus of players won't stop them from being competitive as they downed the Baradine Magpies 24-20.
In the most tense match of the round, both sides scored four tries but Gulgong star Brad James proved the difference as he crossed the line twice and finished with a 100 per cent record with the boot in a 24-20 win.
While a strong start for the Terriers, the match proved the young Magpies outfit will be one to watch in 2024.
A high-scoring match was played out at Coonabarabran, with the Unicorns running out 48-20 winners over rivals Coonamble.
The weekend's other winner was Coolah, who were playing their first official competitive match in the competition since 2017.
A week on from winning the pre-season Castlereagh Knockout in eye-catching fashion, the Roos proved too strong for an error-riddled Gilgandra side.
Jake Burgess scored a double for Coolah in the 40-6 victory.