The competition is the only one of this region’s four divisions to go full throttle at the earliest opportunity, with a full slate of Easter fixtures to hit the ground running in 2024.
Headlining the stacked act this weekend is a 2023 grand final rematch that has had each side load up with marquee talent since the decider.
Mulwala and Congupna are all set to provide the benchmarks again this time, which means nothing will come easy in their Good Friday clash at Lonsdale Oval.
Congupna coach Ben Bingham certainly agrees.
"There hasn’t been too much I've had to do to try and motivate the boys,” Bingham said.
“It’s been a long pre-season and knowing we’ve got the reigning premiers first up, there’s no greater task to see where we’re at.
“We go in hoping we can take it up to them and change the result from last year.
“We’ll go in a bit differently from last year. We’re really happy with who we’ve brought in and everyone who’s come in has brought a big impact on our group to lift the standards.”
Of course, there is plenty of reason for both sides to be satisfied with their incomings.
The more important news is that everyone is available for the round one blockbuster.
“We've got a full list to go from, which is always nice,” Bingham said.
“The guys have put in a solid block during pre-season, so it’s good to have everyone; selection is tough for every club at round one, but it’s always a positive position to be in.
“I reckon this is the strongest the Murray would have been in 10 or 15 years; a lot of people have recruited really well.
“We’re not getting ahead of ourselves because the top six will probably be the strongest our league has had for a long time.
“We’ve seen a lot of growth from our locals and juniors taking the next step, although we’ll be looking for the new guys to make an impact.”
The rest of the Murray teams will have their impacts to make across the weekend, with Tongala and Nathalia injecting some ex-Tiger touch ahead of their Good Friday meeting.
Tongala recruited Brett Deledio for 2024, while the Purples have landed Kayne Pettifer from Kyabram.
Elsewhere, 2022 runner-up Moama will seek a return to the big stage in kicking off its campaign as firm favourite against Echuca United.
Numurkah welcomes a typically unfancied, but heavily-refurbished Rumbalara and will do well to avoid slipping on the banana peel.
Good Friday action rounds off under the freshly-unveiled lights of Hardinge Street Oval as Deniliquin entertains Finley in a standalone night clash.
A border battle wraps up the full-blooded opening weekend on Easter Saturday as Cobram, featuring reigning Goulburn Valley League leading goal-kicker Jackson Trengove, squares off with neighbouring rival Barooga.
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