The Seahawks built a big lead in the first quarter, and were rarely troubled throughout the match as they cruised to a 16.13 (109) to 5.6 (36) victory.

Ross Hummel kicked three goals in the win, while Bill Alves, Will Aiken, and Kyle O'Malley all chipped in with two.

Seahawks coach Mick Kenny said it was pleasing to start the season with a strong win.

"There will be a few doubters floating around after seeing the players we lost, but we spoke pretty honestly all pre-season about what we wanted to do, and we knew we had the players to do it," he said. "It's good to turn a few heads in round one."

The Seahawks played an extremely young side in round one, with a number of players from last year's under 18s squad featuring.

"I thought they were all great," Kenny said. "They never shirked a contest, they didn't look out of place, and with the good mix of experienced guys we've got, it's looking like it'll be a good fit."

Despite a lack of size in the midfield, Kenny was happy with the way his side applied themselves at the contest.

"It's no secret we're not a big, physical side," he said. "There were probably times when Ainslie got on top of us in the midfield, so that's an area we'll focus on when we're playing the bigger sides.

"Our effort was good though. We knew both sides would be rusty with their skills, and the team that was willing to work the hardest would come out as winners.

"We wanted to be that team, and the effort we put in was very pleasing."

The Seahawks premiership flag was hoisted throughout the game, but Kenny said it shouldn't affect his side too much this season.

"We spoke about it during the week, how it's a celebration of last year," he said. "We're not really focused on last year, we're focused on what's in front of us at the moment.

"There's definitely still some improvement to be made, but I thought the guys really jumped on board and understood what their role was.

"If you've got 22 players all playing for each other, you're always going to be pretty hard to beat."

ANU 14.14 (98) def. Googong 7.6 (48).

Woden, Molonglo, and ADFA all had the bye.