After several months of delays and wondering whether the season would begin, the Dirty Reds got their 2020 campaign off to the perfect start on Saturday with three wins from three matches.
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While the women recorded a gritty 22-0 over Wests in their 15s debut at the Weetangera Playing Fields in Canberra, the men's reserves and first grade sides compiled a pair of victories against Easts at Griffith Oval.
The reserve graders got proceedings off to a record start, with a 71-point margin in the opening match, which was followed by first grade's 33-14 victory.
While the cumulative 136-24 scoreline for all of Goulburn's senior sides looks simple on paper, Dirty Reds head coach Mik Webber said the biggest challenge on the day was picking the teams.
After a number of Goulburn's football codes pulled the plug on their seasons for various reasons, the Dirty Reds have welcomed an influx of new players to the club, which gave selectors a very welcome conundrum.
"Normally the headache we've got in round one is everyone playing two games," Webber said.
"Now we've got a full bench and we're worrying about everyone getting game time. It was very different but a good problem to have."
In the end, Webber decided that the players who committed themselves to both the original preseason and the shortened post-COVID preseason would be the primary picks for first grade, with the newer players to find their feet in reserves.
"It means the blokes are accountable for getting to training and putting their best foot forward," Webber said.
"There's so much competition for spots this year.
"In years gone by, people know they're in the side through necessity, and you get a cold Thursday night you're likely to stay at home from time to time."
Among plenty of positives to take away from Saturday, arguably the most pleasing aspect for Webber was the performance of the players new to the reserve grade side.
Both Tyler and Nicholas Cornish shone among the backs, with six tries between them, and Webber effused about the efforts of youngsters Harry Newby, Michael Cooke, Tynan Rae, Alex Parlett, Guy Nesbitt-Titheradge, and Eric Brown, who are all fresh from the junior ranks.
"For some of them, it was their first game for the club, and they had really good games as 18 and 19-year-olds," he said.
"That's another positive from reserve grade, we have a really good group of young blokes playing well."
While there was no shortage of good signs for the Dirty Reds, there were also some areas which need addressing.
"[The first grade win] was a good win, but it was a scrappy win," Webber said.
"I don't think we stuck to a lot of the structures we wanted to, but wins against Easts are always tough, they're always pretty physical. The scorelines don't always reflect how hard the game was.
"We have done a fair bit of work on structures at training. In saying that too, that's our first run together since the grand final last year, which feels an eternity ago. There's probably some rust there."
The Dirty Reds will look to put on a more well-rounded performance this weekend, when first grade and reserve grade take on Hall in Goulburn.
Things will get underway with reserve grade on Saturday, July 25, from 1.30pm. First grade will follow at 3.05pm.
Meanwhile, the Dirty Reds women have a bye this weekend, and will next play on August 1 against Tuggeranong in Goulburn from 1.40pm.
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