The side was simply too strong for the Southern Mallee Giants from the outset as it controlled the opening round encounter before winning 71-12.

Warrack Eagles co-coach Sarah Spicer said it was pleasing to start with such a strong performance.

“We certainly weren’t expecting to win the way that we did,” she said. 

“To have a big win like that in round one was a great way to build some confidence.”

A strong wind blowing across the court made for difficult conditions from the word go, with the home side handling them better in the early stages.

By quarter time the Warrack Eagles side had already opened up a 17-goal lead by limiting the Giants to just two goals.

Spicer was impressed by how quickly her side had adjusted to the conditions.

“Since we were the last game of the day we had seen what had happened in the games before us,” she said.

“The girls had obviously learnt a lot because they kept it short, didn’t go for the long passes and certainly didn’t go for the long goals.”

She said not adjusting to conditions had adversely impacted the side’s performances at times in 2017.

“That probably made it so pleasing,” she said. “We’ve got pretty much the same team as last season but sometimes we wouldn’t learn from our mistakes who wouldn’t play the way we had talked about from the first whistle. 

“It showed on Saturday that we have already developed from last season.”

After converting 18 opportunities on goal in the first quarter Megan Werner continued to have a big impact for the Warrack Eagles in the second.

The goal attack took her tally to 30 by half time as her side led 36-5.

By the end of the game she had shot 54 goals and was a stand out player for her side as it completed the 59-goal win.

“To shoot that many goals while playing goal attack was massive for us especially given the conditions” Spicer said.

“We were also really good defensively right across the court.  – from goal keeper to goal shooter we shut them down everywhere.”

The Warrack Eagles side has been predominately known for its ability to lock down opposing sides defensively in recent seasons.

Spicer said to score so well in the opening round was pleasing.

“We know we have that capability to score well but have struggled for consistency through four quarters,” she said.

“We’ve got to take confidence out of the win but we also need to be careful that we don’t get ahead of ourselves – it’s only round one and we are sure the Giants will get stronger as well.”