The outfit has long been the powerhouse team in the competition and there was no sign of slowing down in their 2020 opening round, with familiar faces like Narromine star Bec Smyth picking up exactly where she left off at the tail-end of 2019, crossing for five tries throughout the two halfs.

Extra effort from Maddi Chapman, Alex Couley and another western region cross-code talent in Alahna Ryan saw each of them also cross for tries, leaving the score at a bruising 44 - 6 at full time.

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Former Castlereagh gun Tori Canham added on the extras with six successful conversions through the scoring blitz, with a lone, converted try to the Cougars offering some relief in the second half.

The Goannas' youngest guns also got their season started off with a win on Saturday, taking home a 30 - 8 victory over their hosts earlier in the day's fixtures, after stunning the Castlereagh Cougars in a display of persistent attack.

An onslaught of early offence from Millie Sutcliffe, Hebe Bakus and Kyree Peckham provided four tries between the the three of them, with Peckham crossing twice early on and two conversions from her boot pushing the score to 20 - 0.

The Cougars were able to claw back some momentum with a solitary try in the first half, but another shortly after play resumed were the last points the hosts would manage before the floodgates opened up again for the Goannas on the scoreboard.

Asha Lake crossed for the Cougars fifth try of the day and while the conversion went wide, Kyree Peckham completed a hat-trick in the game's final stanza to open up another conversion opportunity which she nailed to send the Goannas' youngest side out 30 - 8 victors.

While the Goannas 16s side were able to claw back an early Castlereagh lead and force the scores to 12 - 12 early on thanks to the efforts of Claudia Whiteman and a double to Makaah Darcy in the first half, the success didn't last.

The Cougars re-entered the contest strongly in the second half and while a try to Jorja Simpson drew the scores level again, the rest of the action was dominated by the hosts who managed two more tries and a conversion to push the gap to 16 - 26 by full time.

The Goannas under 18s side were upset in a back and forth battle with their counterparts in which Taneka Todhunter scored a double and Emma Teale also found her way past the try-line, but the Cougars came away 16 - 26 winners off the back of a fast start and a persistent scoring effort in the second half.