On the back of a four-goal haul from their returning talisman Kimmy McLean, Services accounted for the premiers 9-1 on Sunday.

"Very happy with that as a start," McLean said.

The Australian Country rep is suiting up again this season after spending last season watching on from the dug out coaching pad in hand, and loved being out there again. 

"I missed it last year," she said.

With Josh Worpel coming on board as coach this season it has freed her up to just concentrate on playing, although he was tied up with grand final cricket commitments on Sunday.

McLean said it did take them a little while to find their groove, the adrenalin of being back out there again creating in a bit of panic in attack early on with players wanting to score.

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"Once we settled down I was really happy with our passing," McLean said.

"We did a lot of passing to each other."

They were also patient in attack and content to work for the short corner or make that extra pass in the circle, which paid dividends.

"We were getting results in the 25. A lot of the times we were in there we got a short corner, or shot away or a goal," she said.

She conceded she was a bit surprised by the magnitude of the win, although did comment that Souths did "look very different" to last year.

It wasn't a good start for last year's grand finalists with Waratahs getting the better of Souths' grand final combatants Flames 2-1 in the first game on Sunday.

New Waratahs coach Matt Wilson said the game could have gone either way, Katrina Rekunow's second half strike proving the difference with scores locked at 1-all at half-time.

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Wilson said it was a really good team performance from what was a "bit of a thrown together side".

"We had quite a few third and second graders playing.

"Quite a few of our first graders had commitments elsewhere," he said.

Consequently a few of the more senior players had to play out of position but they adapted well to what he asked them to do.

"I was really pleased with the way they went and conducted themselves," Wilson said, noting the sides' effort and willingness to adapt to a new environment.

The midfield has in recent seasons been one of Waratahs' strengths and was again on Sunday.

"We had a lot of strength through the midfield. They gave us a lot of space there," Wilson said.

"To that end it meant we could move the ball and promote it forward."

They didn't quite have the strength in the frontline to always make the most of that, but it was a very promising start.

It is all a bit of a learning curve for Wilson. This is his first season coaching a women's side in any grade.

He is one of a few new faces at the helm this season with Hayden Lewin stepping up to coach Souths and Sam Levick coaching Tudor Wests.

They won the Saturday night game, defeating Olympians 3-1.