NEW joint coach Shellie Davies says she is pleased with Bridgewater's start to its premiership defence and will target gradual improvement in this Saturday's clash against Maiden Gully YCW.
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The Mean Machine opened their season with a diligent 47-27 win over Pyramid Hill to catapult them directly to the same spot they occupied on the league ladder at the end of last season, on top.
Unsurprisingly for a round one contest, Davies said there were both encouraging signs and parts of the Mean Machine's game which required a little work.
"We probably started a bit slow, but Pyramid Hill was good - we probably didn't pull away until about half way through," she said.
"We made a few errors, but the girls were likely a little nervous being the first game.
"I felt we were able to pressure them all over the court and just wear them down."
Pre-game injuries and unavailability meant the Mean Machine were reduced to a bare seven players for the clash against the Bulldogs.
But the outlook is much brighter this weekend, with gun recruit Zoe Davies tipped to make her debut after missing through injury, and Olivia Collicoat returning to the line-up after being unavailable last weekend.
One of three premiership starters still in the line-up this season, wing defence Anita Dorrington was the standout for Bridgewater with her relentless pressure and high volume of intercepts.
Davies was equally pleased with the efforts of Brigette Matthews and Ellie Wilson, who were premiership players last season in A-reserve.
The new Mean Machine joint coach is expecting Maiden Gully YCW to be a tough match-up, with the Eagles being eager to get their first victory of the season after a first-up loss to Mitiamo.
"They will want to come out pretty strong I would imagine," she said.
"We will take them on as we do all teams as another team to beat, but as I have said previously we will pay more attention to themselves and our game.
"Being consistent over four quarters is our aim."
In other round two encounters, Bears Lagoon-Serpentine will see action for the first time after a bye in round one against Inglewood, first round winner Marong clashes with Calivil United, and Mitiamo hosts Pyramid Hill at John Forbes Oval.
After a quality round one win against Calivil United, Newbridge has a bye.
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