Despite playing away from home, Bomaderry started strongly and never looked back to run out winners 12.8 (80) – 3.9 (27).

Tigers coach Sean Byrne said he was stoked with the performance his boys displayed in round one.

“I’m pretty happy to get a win on the board against a Nowra team that was very upbeat coming into this match,” he said.

“I thought our contested ball was great in the first half, as we were winning most of the clearances and doing the basics right.”

Tigers headed into the main break up 49 to eight, thanks to some big goals by Matt Polman and Andy Ellis.

In the third quarter, Nowra’s tempers boiled over with two players being red-carded, leaving their team two players short for the rest of the match.

“I was happy with how our guys kept THEIRcool and maintained their discipline in the third quarter,” Byrne said.

“Even though we had two spare men towards the end of the match, our performance dropped off a little due to match fitness and us not playing a pre-season trial.

“But that’s things that we will work on throughout the season.”

Polman ended with three goals for the Tigers, with Sam Laidlaw being awarded best on ground in his first game for the club.

Brad Jacques and Matt Tyler were both standouts for the Tigers, with Adam Weller the best for the Blues in a losing effort.

Elsewhere, Ulladulla were too strong for Albatross, running out winners 13-11 (89) - 10-5 (65) in their round one encounter.