Their first hit out in the Capital Football National Premier League didn't go to plan, but the Riverina Rhinos are excited about what's to come.
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The competition's new boys on the block opened their campaign in Canberra's top flight with a 7-0 loss at the hands of Canberra FC at Deakin Stadium on Saturday.
The hosts had a slender one-goal lead at the break, but ran over the top of the weary Rhinos who struggled to run it out after making the long trip to the capital.
The Rhinos have joined Capital Football's NPL competition this season to grow the competition's reach and provide a pathway for regional New South Wales.
But it will take some time to adjust for the Rhinos after they ran out of gas and conceded six second half goals.
Rhinos assistant coach Gabriel Abdala says the first half offered a lot of positives but there remains plenty of work to be done.
"What we learnt today is that it doesn't matter how long you're in the game for - you've got to be in the game for 90 minutes," Abdala said.
"What we took out of today is that you have go to play 90 minutes, we've got to compete for every ball, we've got to make sure that we compete at that high intensity.
"I thought towards the end we sort of died off. If anything we take out of today, it's that we have to play for 90 minutes.
"Our first experience at this level, they're excited for what this opportunity has to offer."
The result blew out in the second half when Riverina were reduced to 10 men after their goalkeeper was sent from the field.
Canberra FC coach Marko Vrkic says the send-off, travel and a lack of fitness were to blame for Riverina's rocky start, but expects them to bring a lot to the competition.
"We had to be careful, first game is always hard - there's no easy game," Vrkic said.
"The result does not show everything that you have to do, it was a very hard game for us, we were working hard to win in that game.
"Riverina had a very good team for the first 45 minutes... But it looks like [it's] no bad team. They played good football for the first 45 minutes.
"They had a lack of fitness, and that was a big advantage for us. After 3-0 they were a man down and then it was one-way traffic."
The Rhinos created plenty of opportunities in attack but failed to convert, and were left to rue their mistakes after Canberra piled on four late goals against 10 men.
Meanwhile, the FFA Centre of Excellence knocked over Woden Weston 3-1 to open their campaign with a bang.
Belconnen claimed bragging rights against Gungahlin with a comprehensive 4-0 win at McKellar Park.
Round one continues when Monaro host Canberra Olympic, and Cooma play Tuggeranong on Sunday.
