In the end, it was Freemantle, who was both rapt and relieved it was her who able to break the duck, with the Storm, led by wing defence Makayle Dole and goal shooter Eliza Hynes, posting a solid 60-51 win.

And if the 2021 season plays out the way most BFNL netball followers expect it will, the first win could prove to be a pretty important one in the scheme of things.

With Sandhurst looking every bit as dominant as it has through its past three seasons of premiership dominance, an already talent-laden Kangaroo Flat significantly strengthened through some astute recruiting, and Gisborne showing it can more than match it with the best in a draw against the Roos on Saturday, there's a feeling the remaining six sides are competing for a likely two vacancies in the top five.

Consequently, in a group of teams comprising South Bendigo, Strathfieldsaye, Eaglehawk, Kyneton, Maryborough and Golden Square, wins against each other will take on some extra significance as the season rolls on.

Proud to have posted win number one on the board following Saturday's nine-goal victory, Freemantle acknowledged as much when attention turned to this Saturday's clash against Golden Square, which will be desperate for a win after starting the season 3-0.

"Hopefully we can have a red-hot crack against them," she said.

"I'd say there's Maryborough, South Bendigo, Eaglehawk, Golden Square, Kyneton and us in that similar bracket for the other two spots in finals.

"(South) were a team we had some of our closest battles with two years ago, but there has been a bit change on both sides. I'm expecting a really tough battle then too."

With the club videoing last Saturday's match, Freemantle was keen to watch the footage to ascertain areas of their game in need of improvement.

"We probably made some silly errors early on, so they are things we will look at," she said.

"On the positive side, I think it was good Jackie (Geary) and I in defence mixed it up a bit and played a split ring instead of one-on-one.

"Makayle (Dole) was awesome at wing defence, lots of taps and lots of touches and (young goal attack) Ava Hamilton was fantastic. She is growing every week and you can just see that improvement and confidence growing.

"We had a bit of a swing around in the last half against Gisborne, we swapped it up with Eliza (Hynes) going into attack from defence.

"I'm lucky I can do that with her. I will obviously still need her in a defensive role at times, but it was good to let her loose up in the goal circle."

Despite losses in their opening two matches, by 24 goals against Sandhurst, and by 20 to Gisborne, Freemantle said her side had learned plenty from both defeats.

The most pleasing aspect of Saturday's win for Freemantle - besides being her first as coach - was her side being able to rebound from an opening quarter deficit, to be playing their best netball the further the match progressed.

"It feels good, it was sort of 'a need to' win for us after our performances against Gisborne and Sandhurst, we really needed to see where we are at among that next tier of teams," she said.

"We talked a lot about maintaining our composure, so it was good for us to see that we could come back from being down and settle and keep playing our own game, instead of being rattled."

In other games this weekend, Sandhurst (3-0) and Kangaroo Flat (2-0-1) meet at Dower Park in a battle of last year's grand finalists; Maryborough hosts Eaglehawk, with both sides looking for their first win; and South Bendigo (2-0) hosts Gisborne (2-0-1) a the QEO.

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