The Queanbeyan Kangaroos piled on 22 unanswered second-half points but captain-coach Aaron Gorrell says if they don't clean up their act they could be in for a long year.
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But Tuggeranong Bushrangers coach Justin Giteau says the Roos and their cross-town rivals, the Queanbeyan Blues, are "a class above the rest" in the Canberra Raiders Cup.
The Roos trailed at halftime but came home with a wet sail to knock over the Tuggeranong Bushrangers 32-16 at Freebody Oval on Sunday.
While they were on the wrong end of the penalty count, the Roos repelled wave after wave of attack early in the second half to turn the tide with scores locked at 16-all.
Gorrell praised his side for the way they turned up for each other as Tuggeranong hammered their line with a number of repeat sets, but says they will have to iron out the ill-discipline.
"I think you stop thinking, and you try to push the boundaries a little bit," Gorrell said.
"I'm confident we can get rid of that - if we don't we're going to be in for a long season, and we're going to have to keep turning up and defending our line."
While the Roos were "a bit off the mark" in the opening half, their season couldn't have got off to a better start when winger Jedidiah Simbiken scored in the first 90 seconds.
The two sides traded tries for much of the first stanza but once the hosts were able to build sustained attacking pressure it was all one-way traffic.
The Roos dropped just two games in 2016 - round one and the grand final - but the way last season finished hasn't been raised within the club's four walls.
Instead the focus is solely on the year ahead, and five-eighth Brent Crisp will have a big say in how far they go in 2017.
Crisp starred in the second half, setting up a try with a crossfield bomb before diving over for a try of his own, bellowing "I'm not that old" as he got back to his feet.
"I'm glad they're into someone else about being old," Gorrell laughed.
"He's at the top of this competition in players. It's good to see him play good in round one and hopefully he just builds his season into this and has another great season as he did last year."
Tuggeranong coach Justin Giteau admits coming up against the Roos in round one was always going to be a tough gig, but was pleased his side battled hard to stay in the contest.
"The Blues and Roos in my opinion are probably a class above the rest of the comp, and it's up to the rest of us to try and get there," Giteau said.
"They just had blokes who were experience in the right positions, and they know what to do in certain situations which we've still got to learn. We'll get there."
Meanwhile, the Woden Valley Rams stunned the Goulburn Workers Bulldogs with a last-second Ron Leapai field goal to clinch a thrilling 23-22 victory.
WODEN VALLEY RAMS 23 (M Gilmour 3, M Geiger, J Hickson tries; C Johnson goal; R Leapai field goal) bt GOULBURN WORKERS BULLDOGS 22 (C Hart, P Cooke, T Greenwood, T Hazelton tries; C Hart, B Hewitt 2 goals).
QUEANBEYAN KANGAROOS 32 (B Crisp 2, M Connolly, T Aroha-Tuinauvai, J Simbiken, J Essex tries; B Crisp 4 goals) bt TUGGERANONG BUSHRANGERS 16 (J Tauti, J Mitchell, B Hensen tries; J Mitchell 2 goals).
