But for two teams, in particular, round one is a chance to stand up to an opponent that has bullied them unmercifully for years and say “enough is enough”.

Those teams are Kangaroo Flat and Kyneton.

The Roos make the short trip to MyJet Oval to take on the neighbouring Golden Square, while Kyneton is preparing for battle with Gisborne at Gardiner Reserve.

These match-ups for too long have been the equivalent of big brothers beating up on their little brothers in the backyard.

Occasionally, Kyneton has been able to land a surprise blow on the chin of Gisborne, but in Kangaroo Flat’s case, the Roos have constantly been left battered and bruised by the Bulldogs.

Those involved at Kangaroo Flat must be sick of reading the line that gets trotted out every time the Roos take on Golden Square.

And that line is that Kangaroo Flat hasn’t beaten Golden Square since round 8, 2001, when the Roos won by 21 points, 13.17 (95) to 10.14 (74).

Since then the ledger is 28-0 in favour of Golden Square, with 19 of those victories in excess of 10 goals. If the Bulldogs are the Harlem Globetrotters, the Roos are their Washington Generals.

If there’s another country footy match-up where one team has gone 28 meetings with an opponent without beating them once, I’d love to hear about it.

A year ago on Good Friday when the Roos trudged off Dower Park after yet another loss to Golden Square, you couldn’t help but wonder if Kangaroo Flat will ever shrug the Bulldog monkey off its back.

Not even with Brendan Fevola in the goalsquare bagging four goals, Bulldog captain Simon Rosa off the ground from the second term with a broken hand, and having led by 20 points at three quarter-time could the Roos beat Square, who rallied to win by a goal.

Derrick Filo was the last coach to lead Kangaroo Flat to a win over Golden Square.

Since then Phil Carman, Chris Harrington, Damien Brown, John Rombotis, Darryl Wilson, Murray Collins, Tyrone Downie and now Jason Stevens (pictured) have all tried to end the Bulldogs’ domination of the Roos, but come up short.

The Roos are all about taking the next step this year and pushing their way into the finals. What better springboard to launch that journey then by achieving what for 13 full seasons has been mission impossible.

Meanwhile, down south Gisborne versus Kyneton is billed as one of the BFL’s fiercest rivalries.

But while there may be no love lost between the two clubs stemming back to Steven Reaper’s defection from the Tigers to Bulldogs on the eve of the 2000 season, it’s a rivalry built on location rather than absorbing contests, like Gisborne shares with Golden Square.

A 26-2 ledger in favour of Gisborne since it joined the BFL in 2000 against Kyneton hardly screams “a game not to be missed”.

Especially when 12 of those 26 Gisborne wins have been by more than 100 points – one of those being their round 12 meeting last year when the Bulldogs led by just 10 points at half-time, but kicked 20 goals to zip after the break to win by 138.

If the Tigers can get over the line against the Bulldogs on Friday – and I certainly give them a chance - it will be a massive kickstart for 2015 and their top five aspirations.

Not only because of the baggage the Tigers carry when it comes to Gisborne, but any win at Gardiner Reserve is effectively worth double, for few teams emerge from The Graveyard with the four points.

Can Kangaroo Flat and Kyneton make a stand against their bigger brothers, or will it be a case of new season, but same old result?