Baldivis charge out of the blocks to cruise past South Mandurah

The Brumbies were emphatic in their season-opening victory, with Aden Field and Josh Branchi putting in outstanding performances to lead the side over the Falcons 16.14 (110) to 5.9 (39).

The duo helped the home side hit the ground running early, with Field prominent in the midfield while Branchi dominated the ruck.

Forwards Blaine Johnson and Zak Quigg, who finished with four and three goals respectively, both hit the scoreboard in the first term but majors to Falcons Bevan Bennell and Rhys Price helped keep the margin to just 12 points at quarter time.

But Baldivis seized more of their chances in the second period, booting four goals to Souths' one.

Johnson and Joel Ritchie both nailed their second goals early in the term, before Ben Higgs (three goals on the day) registered his first to push the margin out to 31 points.

Michael Humble nailed his first goal of the season as South Mandurah attempted to conjure a response, but Branchi returned serve late in the quarter to give Baldivis a five-goal buffer at the long break.

From there the Brumbies put their foot down, slotting eight goals to the Falcons' two in the second half to break the game wide open.

Johnson continued to effect the game in the forward half, while Higgs, Field, Emmanuel Collard and Callum Black chimed in on the scoring sheet for the hosts.

Callum Dews and Brody Wemm booted South Mandurah's only goals for the half but it did little to stop Baldivis from landing the first blow of the season.

Strong performances from youngsters James Russell and Eric Botha caught the eye of coach Craig Hamersley, along with that of new ruckman Branchi.

"To see those young kids James and Eric come in and really compete hard and be physical at the contest, that's super encouraging for us," he said.

"Branchi just provided quality taps all day and our midfielders were just able to feed off them, so we see that being a huge help for us moving forward."

Hamersley's Brumbies now prepare to take on reigning premiers Pinjarra in round two.

The coach said his side was looking forward to testing themselves against the benchmark of the competition.

"Pinjarra's obviously been the measuring stick in the league for a while now and I think they've had our number the past few times we've played, so we're really hoping to peg one back on them," he said.

"They're a great side so this is a really good test for us to see where we're at."

Baldivis takes on Pinjarra at Sir Ross McLarty Oval on Saturday, 4pm, while South Mandurah look to bounce back against Rockingham at Falcon Oval at 4.30pm.