A blend of youth and experience took the field for the New England Nomads on Saturday when they opened their 2022 AFL North West account against the Gunnedah Bulldogs.
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The Nomads beat an undermanned Gunnedah team 119-17.17 to 30-4.6.
Player-coach Clarrie Barker is back at the helm again this season and said it was good to start the season in winning style with an influx of new town-based players taking up the sport.
"We do have a lot of new blokes from town that have joined the team which is a big positive for us," Barker said.
"Come times like uni holidays, they are blokes we lean on a bit more to make up numbers for a game which is really good.
"I think going back to those few newer players, we had a good handful of players that had never played a game of AFL so it really pleasing to see them play their first game of AFL but actually do well and contribute to the win.
"That was one of the big things from the weekend and it gives them a lot of confidence going into some the games ahead."
The future also looks bright with Nomads juniors stepping up to senior grade and making a good impression.
"And some of our younger players stepping up like Noah Connick and Xavier Walsh who were made two of our vice-captains for the year," Barker said.
"They are two of our younger players who have made an impact on and off the field."
They are complemented by experienced players including Barker, David Richards, Tom Hunt and Johnathon Frost.
The Nomads again have a big test front of them when they play the Tamworth Kangaroos down the hill this Saturday.
University holidays finished recently and players have been making their way back to the team giving Barker selection headaches heading into the game.
"A team like the Roos are always hard to come up against down at home. They have a really strong women's team coming through and their men's team is very similar," he said.
"We know they like to have a big day out on the Saturday and all their fans come down to watch so it is really hard to go and play down there but we love the challenge."