IT WASN'T quite a win, but a five-goal loss to Elmore in round one of HDFNL netball brought plenty of solace for Colbinabbin and coach Jen McIntyre.
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If there were at all any doubts lingering over the Grasshoppers' competitiveness this season without their star midcourter Olivia McEvoy, they were quickly dispelled at the Elmore Recreation Reserve last Saturday.
The Grasshoppers, led by big performances by Ella Turnbull and goaler Matilda McIntyre, showed they would again be a force to be reckoned with by pushing a strong Bloods line-up to the limit.
Of course that should have come as no surprise.
A perennial HDFNL netball powerhouse, the Grasshoppers finished third behind Elmore and White Hills in their last season without McEvoy - a three-time league medallist - on the court.
"We have to adjust to life after Liv Mac, but I was pretty happy (against Elmore)," McIntyre said.
"We made a lot of errors, but we can tidy that up. And Elmore are obviously going to be good.
"They are stronger than last year, especially defensively.
"I know Tahnee (Cannan) played a bit of centre last year, but they can push her out to wing defence and they are pretty tall and strong in defence.
"It was still pretty high scoring. I don't think that will be a problem for us this year.
"We haven't exactly trained a lot given the spread of players, but that was the same last year.
"But there's hope we will be strong.
"Looking at the round one results, it looks like the standard across the board is going to be strong."
McIntyre paid particular notice of big first round winners Heathcote and Leitchville-Gunbower, which just happens to be this weekend's opponent for the Grasshoppers.
The Bombers, under new coach Caitlyn Hamilton and with plenty of fresh faces in the line-up, underpinned their expected improvement with a 42-goal win over Lockington-Bamawm United.
Other than a massive challenge, McIntyre is not sure what to expect from the Bombers.
"It's always tough when you don't know much about the opposition, but going on their result against Lockington, you can see they are going to be strong," she said.
"But I thought we were okay (against Elmore). We won the second and third quarters, but lost the first and last.
"We got enough ball, but threw a bit away. Credit to them, they had a good zone, so working out how to navigate that took a bit of time.
"Elmore were impressive as they always were - Gabe (Richards) doesn't get any shorter."
The clash at Gunbower will be the second in a run of four straight tough matches to start the season for Colbinabbin, with an improved Heathcote and reigning premiers White Hills to follow.
Macey McCaig made her A-grade debut for the Grasshoppers last week, coming up from A-reserve and acquitting herself well, according to McIntyre.
While 15-year-old centre Grace McIntyre played her first full A-grade game and was a solid contributor.
In other round two games this weekend, North Bendigo makes its first appearance this season against Elmore; Heathcote hosts Lockington-Bamawm United; and White Hills clashes with Mount Pleasant at Scott Street.
Huntly has the bye.
