There was no disappointment for the Goannas come game-day, with the top three grades on the club's side of the field all earning hard-fought victories, and the fledgling under 13's leaving with a draw.
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Under 13s and 15s coach Kaitlyn Mason couldn't have been happier for the Goannas' youngest side - many of them having only played league tag before - who she thinks will only get better after the opening round draw in which they reversed an early Castlereagh lead and kept ahead for most of the game.
"I'm very happy with the girls, they put a lot of effort in at training and making that transfer to tackle is quite confronting at the start," Mason said.
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"I think they handled themselves really well against a side like Castlereagh, they're new to the comp, but they're going to set the platform for the future."
"I think they'll get a lot of confidence out of that draw, they came into it nervous, but keen and we talked afterwards about where they need to improve."
"They're smart young girls, their knowledge of the game already is pretty outstanding, they know what they need to do."
The under 13s drew at full-time 22 all, while the under 15s scored a firm 34 - 12 victory, a big turnaround from the undermanned squad that played last year.
"Last year we had nine, so we could barely hit twelve girls, this year we've actually had around 45, which is phenomenal, the fifteens have been really good at guiding the younger girls and helping them with their questions, helping them at training, which is good," Mason said.
"Really happy with the result they got, very proud, most of those girls haven't played before, there's maybe five of the original squad from last year, so a result like that is really good and I'm really happy with it."
Fullback Narelle Shillingsworth was the best on field for the under 15s, putting on an energetic performance that helped control the flow of the game.
"She came in and took a couple of runs coming out of our half for the forwards when they were tried, she did a really good job."
The under 18s added to Castlereagh's woes, hammering the visitors for a 64 - 4 scoreline at full time, with Emma Teale and India Draper both scoring doubles during the effort and Teale earning player of the match.
However, the most impressive showing was reserved for Rebecca Smyth, who earned player of the match accolades from her club for her performance in the Opens match, scoring five tries during the reigning premiers opening match and helping push the Goannas to a 62 - 10 victory.
Coach Gerry 'Chicka' Merritt said that Smyth, a relative newcomer, was impressive throughout the game.
"Great performance, first time I've seen her play - I know she played union, and she's just back from having a baby - she was really strong in the middle, good carries at lock and really strong on the defence."
Merritt credited his whole team with overcoming a difficult training schedule.
"It's a really good result, we had a few girls out and a lot of new girls into that top side, so we really didn't know how we were going to go, but considering we didn't have great prep training wise; only one session and not all our girls were there, it was really impressive, they were throwing the ball around like they'd been playing together for years."
