Round 1 - Saturday April 9, 2011
Riverina Football Netball League
Venue: Griffith Exies Oval 5.00pm
Umpires: Mark Rowe, Paul Smith and Rob Buzzi (RUA) 
Griffith ............ 2.2 .. 7.7 .. 11.8 .. 14.10 (94)
Turvey Park .... 2.3 .. 4.5 .. 6.7 .. 9.10 (64) 
GRIFFITH: Jonathon Gastin, James Smith, Glen Snaidero; Matthew Noonan, James Toscan, Che Jenkins*; D Crack, Michael Johns, John Evans*; Cameron Harrison, Toby Blissett, Mathew Crack; Beau Runnalls*, Jeff Mickan, Kris Duncan; Michael Harris, Guy Orton*, Michael Duncan; Henry Delves*, Dean Catanzariti, Casey Boye*
GOALS
Griffith: B Runnalls 4, G Orton 2, M Duncan 2, J Mickan 2, T Blissett, K Duncan, G Snaidero, M Johns 
Turvey Park: B Bryce 3, T Beckmans, J Hill, J Fletcher, L McRae, Matt Ness, T Carroll 
BEST PLAYERS
Griffith: M Duncan, C Jenkins, G Snaidero, G Orton, J Gastin, K Duncan, T Blissett, M Crack
Turvey Park: D Toose, H Cunningham, L Pollett, T Carroll, J Buchanan, A Craig 
SENIOR DEBUT: Casey Boye, Henry Delves, John Evans, Che Jenkins, Guy Orton, Beau Runnalls
A summary of match report, with thanks
The Griffith Swans have begun their 2011 Riverina Football League campaign in the best possible fashion, after securing a resounding 30-point win over the visiting Turvey Park Bulldogs on Saturday night. Griffith’s batch of new players impressed at times during the 14.10 (94) to 9.10 (64) victory, but the most pleasing aspect of the victory, according to coach Damien Scott, there was still plenty of room for improvement.

“They (new players) settled pretty quickly into the game because they’ve gelled in well with the guys since they’ve been here,” Scott said.

“A couple of them probably didn’t have their best performance by their own standards, but they did enough when it was asked of them, but they’re still understanding the other guys’ style of play. “That’ll come in time and the beauty of the weekend, we came away with a win and we’ve still got plenty to work with.”  
Turvey hit the ground running in the first quarter and grabbed two quick goals to put the home side on their heels.

The Swans managed to get inside forward 50 often but were unable to turn pressure into points as they trailed by a point at the first break. Griffith grabbed ascendancy of the game in the second term, kicking five goals to lead by 20 at the main break.

Scott said to his troops that they needed to weigh up their options better when looking to dispose of the ball, along with putting their foot on the floor and not letting the Bulldogs back into the game. The Bulldogs continued to rebound off the backline, but hard work by Guy Orton and Mick Duncan in the middle led to several good chances for Beau Runnalls who kicked four on his club debut.

Glen Snaidero got through a mountain of work in defence while Che Jenkins showed his worth in his first game for the red and white.

While Griffith might have secured a relatively comfortable win in its first game of the season, Scott warned the rest of the RFL the Bulldogs will not be the easy-beats some pundits have them labeled in 2011. “There was some really good play from both sides and talking to their (Turvey Park) coach after the game, with them losing their talented players through rep commitments, he’s going to have a tough job ahead of him,” he said.  “But I honestly can’t see how anyone can write them off after finishing second last season.”

(By Scott Hazlewood - Monday April 11, 2011).

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OTHER MATCHES - SAT: Mangoplah-CUE 12.13 (85) def by Collingullie-AK 16.14 (110); SUN: Ganmain-GGM 12.8 (80) def Coolamon 4.11 (35), Leeton-Whitton 6.12 (48) def by Wagga 9.8 (62); Narrandera, bye.

Reserves: Turvey Park 9.12 (68) def Griffith 2.9 (21)
Goals: D Keenan, J Fallon
Best players: J Fallon, T Buckley, J Tyrell, T Valeri, C Burge, M Keenan
Under 17: Turvey Park 15.9 (99) def Griffith 7.4 (46)
Goals: C O'Reilly 3, N Witherspoon, B Prendergast, Tom Valeri, S Tupuola
Best players: Tom Valeri, T Shannon, K Hillier, C O'Reilly, J Crowe, S Nascimben