The Canberra Raiders kicked off their NRLW season with a first-half blitzkrieg legendary punk band The Ramones would have been proud of.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
But it could have come at a cost with star centre Cheyelle Robins-Reti limping off in the second half with a knee injury.
The Raiders devoured the hapless Wests Tigers 32-12 in their season opener at Campbelltown on Sunday.
It was all over by half-time, the Green Machine shooting out to a 28-6 lead at the break.
At one stage the clock couldn't keep up with the scoreboard with the Raiders scoring more than a point a minute. The win has them on top of the ladder after round one.
Canberra winger Madison Bartlett returned with a bang, scoring a double, while Raiders co-captain Simaima Taufa ran for a massive 163 metres in a dominant display in her return from off-season shoulder surgery.
![The Raiders made a flying start to the season and are top of the ladder after thrashing Wests Tigers. Picture Getty Images The Raiders made a flying start to the season and are top of the ladder after thrashing Wests Tigers. Picture Getty Images](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/reqbnGrLXyZFax2TwSi3Na/44484b1e-4dd9-40e9-a215-6e4149dc0e7e.jpg/r0_110_2907_1751_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Despite their explosive first half, co-captain Zahara Temara was more impressed with their defence in the second - when they were running into a strong wind.
"We wanted a defensive-focused game and I was pretty happy with our second-half performance because there was a lot of grinding," she said.
"Last year that's when we would fall back and let the other team through so I was more pleased with the second half than the first."
But the Raiders were sweating on Robins-Reti, who injured her left knee making a tackle and was unable to finish the game.
Raiders coach Darrin Borthwick was hopeful she would be OK.
They also lost winger Alanna Dummett to a head injury assessment and she could now go into concussion protocols.
"Alanna Dummett didn't pass her HIA so she'll obviously not be available next week, I'm assuming," Borthwick said.
"Cheyelle, I think, is just a precautionary thing, but I think she'll be alright.
"We're looking forward to next week already, but we can't rest on today."
Borthwick might have had his focus on defence during the pre-season, but they hardly had to do any.
It took just five minutes for them to score their first try of the season.
A fantastic Mackenzie Wiki offload put Bartlett over in the corner.
Dummett was over shortly after thanks to an Apii Nicholls cutout pass - as well as a Wests error.
The Tigers were guilty of coughing up the ball far too easily and they spilled an Ashleigh Quinlan kick to set up the Dummett four-pointer.
Quinlan then put a galloping Monalisa Soliola through a hole and she flicked it wide for Wiki to go from creator to scorer.
![Raiders winger Madison Bartlett scored a double. Picture Getty Images Raiders winger Madison Bartlett scored a double. Picture Getty Images](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/reqbnGrLXyZFax2TwSi3Na/adc8430d-22ce-4413-a2ba-9b8f2335d8a1.jpg/r0_390_3816_2544_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Taufa and Temara then got in on the act - first Taufa crossing and then Temara taking advantage of a Grace Kemp offload to barge over.
Finally, the Tigers managed to complete a set and get to their kick - which seemed to catch Raiders fullback Nicholls by surprise and she made a meal of Pauline Piliae-Rasabale's kick.
Wests centre Rikeya Horne swooped on the spilled ball for a simple try to cut Canberra's lead to 28-6 at half-time.
Things calmed down after the break, but Bartlett was eventually able to break the deadlock to cross for her second try - thanks to another brilliant Nicholls cutout pass.
The Tigers took advantage of back-to-back penalties to score their second, with fullback Botille Vette-Welsh brushing off Quinlan.
AT A GLANCE
CANBERRA RAIDERS 32 (Madison Bartlett 2, Alanna Dummett, Mackenzie Wiki, Simaima Taufa, Zahara Temara tries; Zahara Temara 4 goals) bt WESTS TIGERS 12 (Rikeya Horne, Botille Vette-Welsh tries; Pauline Piliae-Rasabale 2 goals) at Campbelltown.