Belconnen Magpies ace goalkicker Chris York has made an unforgettable return to brush off the pain of missing his side's AFL Canberra finals run last year.
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York booted 10 goals as Belconnen started "like a bull out of a gate" to thrash the Tuggeranong Hawks by 187 points at The Nest at Kippax Oval on Saturday.
He had the final say with a goal after the siren to cap off the sweetest of comebacks and take his haul to 10 goals and two behinds.
It was a stunning start few would have expected given the Hawks played finals football in 2016, but past results counted for nothing as the Magpies swooped early.
York's outing served as a reminder of just how lethal he can be and already has him on track to return to his mantle as the league's leading goal-kicker.
York is one of just seven players to play over 200 games for the club and has built a reputation as a small key forward that plays big.
But he was quick to pass off the plaudits to his teammates following the 37.19 (241) to 8.6 (54) thumping.
"The midfielders were really giving us the ball on a platter today so it really helped and it was a good day," York said.
"They've got some really good players, we just thought 'let's go out there and make a statement', that was our aim coming into today, so I think we did that quite well.
"It was pretty upsetting watching the boys play [last year], and I've never missed games before so it was a different feeling. It's good to be back."
The Magpies' lowest-scoring quarter still bore eight goals as they delivered on the "killer instinct" player-coach James Bennett asked for at three quarter time.
The win was a brilliant way for the Magpies to kick off their 2017 campaign and while he was pleased with the result, Bennett says it was "still not the perfect game".
"You're always going into your first game a bit nervous about how you're going to go, so really happy with the result in the end," Bennett said.
"To play the brand of footy that we did, I was really pleased with that. [We've] always got things to work on and improve."
Belconnen racked up five goals in the opening 10 minutes before the lead passed 100 midway through the third term.
And despite finishing with just a two-man rotation off the bench, the Magpies came home strong with 10 goals in the fourth quarter.
While the Magpies ran out 187-point victors, theirs wasn't even the biggest win of the day - Eastlake beat Gungahlin by 219.
Bolstered by returning NEAFL players, the Demons racked up 75 points in the first quarter alone to kick off what could be a promising season.
Meanwhile, the Canberra Demons fell to their second defeat of the NEAFL season in a 56-point loss to the Southport Sharks.
Player-coach Kade Klemke was again one of the best on ground but Canberra failed to conquer their Queensland demons in the 15.17 (107) to 7.9 (51) loss.
AT A GLANCE
AFL Canberra round one:
BELCONNEN MAGPIES 10.2 18.6 27.12 37.19 (241)
TUGGERANONG HAWKS 2.0 6.1 7.1 8.6 (54)
Belconnen Goal Kickers: C. York 10, D. Posch 5, A. Bennett 5, M. Mooney 3, A. Jones 2, J. Bennett 2, S. Coate 2, M. Viney 2, B. Turnbull 2, B. Walker, D. Bunyan, M. Kelly, K. Ruyg
Belconnen Best Players: B. Walker, R. Turnbull, C. York, J. Bennett, S. Coate, A. Bennett
EASTLAKE DEMONS 12.3 23.9 37.16 37.16 (238)
GUNGAHLIN JETS 0.1 0.2 2.5 2.7 (19)
NEAFL round four:
CANBERRA DEMONS 0.3 3.8 5.8 7.9 (51)
SOUTHPORT SHARKS 5.5 9.8 12.13 15.17 (107)
