THE Hamilton Kangaroos’ Western Victoria Female Football League senior women’s flag defence got off to the perfect start, with the Roos defeating the Darras by 122 points at Tyrendarra on Sunday.

A four-goal opening quarter set the tone for the visitors, with Tyrendarra goalless in the first half to trail by 58 points at the main break.

The visitors continued to create scoring chances in the second half and went on to win, 19.10 (124) to 0.2 (2).

Roos captain, Emily Pitts, bagged four goals while playing an important role through the midfield, while Paige Kissel kicked three goals, with seven others also hitting the scoreboard during the round one game.

Co-coach, Pat Sherlock said it was a good first-up performance from the group.

“Tyrendarra was up and about early, then fell away,” he said.

“The ground was good, not a breath of wind around.

“We have got a lot of leg speed, little bit of inexperienced leg speed, which we will work on.

“I like to pick a few negatives out of a win like that, because if you pat yourself on the back a bit too much, you might not always learn as much.”

The win sets up the Roos for another strong start to the season, with some changes to the list from last year’s premiership campaign.

“We have got a pretty new list, we’ve had good numbers at training through the pre-season,” Sherlock said.

“Chloe Smith and Zhane Crawford have come back, which gives us a bit more depth.

“There are Seven or eight new players, three or four returning and then others from last year.

“We have done a fair bit of competitive work during the pre-season, we are playing with 18 on the field this year, compared to 16 in the last year as well.”

The task gets a little harder in round two, with the Roos set for their first home game of the season against the Demons.

Hamilton’s home games will be played at Pedrina Park, with Sherlock expecting a fierce contest.

“Horsham will test us consistently,” he said.

“They are coming down from a big ground to a smaller ground, we just want to look after ourselves though.

“So this week we will just be worried about what we can control.”