Defending Citizens Shield champion Kurow withstood a late flurry from Athletic Marist to win 23-21, Valley showed more composure to beat a new-look Excelsior side 27-13, and Maheno produced a minor shock to thump Old Boys 47-12.
It was a battle between a relatively familiar Valley line-up and a vastly rejigged Excelsior team infused with Fijian pace and power, at Weston.
Perhaps not surprisingly, Valley delivered a much more cohesive effort than a Blues side with about a dozen players on debut.
The country lads were efficient at both scrum and lineout time, and showed plenty of patience to capitalise on scoring opportunities playing into a stiff breeze and led 19-13 at halftime.
As Excelsior ran into some discipline issues, Valley made the key play 16 minutes into the second half, when wily hooker Sam Sturgess combined with Jake Matthews to score from a lineout.
Matthews was his usual effervescent self at halfback, Ben Paton showed plenty of energy from fullback, and rangy Englishman Joe Brock had some nice touches in the unfamiliar position of first five.
Blake Welsh did some excellent lineout work for Valley and there was a highly promising debut from versatile forward Inia Kolinisau — younger brother of veteran prop Meli — before he left with an injury.
Excelsior might need a few weeks to gel but there is plenty of raw new talent in the squad.
Locks Epeli Tuiradamu and Petero Tuisiga both showed promise, fullback Matia Qiolevu was dangerous when given some room to move, and Oli Knopp was a rugged centre.
Few tipped the lopsided margin at Whitestone Contracting Stadium, as Maheno, with its core of classy operators, put powerful Old Boys to the sword.
Inside backs Robbie Smith and Lachie Kingan wove their magic, winger Adam Johnson scored two tries, front-rower Hayden Tisdall scored an intercept try, and Maheno generally played with far more accuracy.
Old Boys briefly threatened a comeback in the second half — Maheno had led 19-0 — but was let down by mistakes and poor discipline.
It was a game of two halves on the back ground, as a steadily rebuilding Athletic Marist team came within a whisker of repeating last year’s opening-round upset of Kurow.
The Red Devils, chasing a threepeat to mark their 125th anniversary, rolled to a 23-0 halftime lead on the back of the usual class from Hayden Parker and Matt Faddes.
Parker, who would later leave with an injured shoulder, was immaculate from the tee with two conversions and three penalties.
Kurow slipped off the pace in the second half while Athies came alive in the final five minutes to fall just short.
