IT just wasn't Jim Grills' day.
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From the moment the Albury recruit walked through the Robertson Oval gates to play for Wagga Tigers on Saturday nothing seemed to go to plan.
The first setback came when his teammate Jake Gaynor found out his permit hadn't gone through in time to play against Osborne.
Then Grills was on the receiving end of a bruising tackle from Ostrich defender Will Ryan in the second quarter which left him dazed and escorted from the ground.
After regaining his composure, Grills threatened to make an impact with a long shot on goal from the boundary shaving the goal post.
And finally, his new club were upset by 15 points.
The Australian polocrosse champion admitted it wasn't the way he had hoped his AFL Riverina Championship debut would pan out.
"We obviously planned to win and it was good to be back into the footy but all of us learnt a lot from the weekend," Grills sad.
"I'd say we will get a lot better.
"We have a lot of improvement in us.
"I know a few sides have had a fair few praccy matches and we came in a bit cold.
"I think we will pick up."
Grills started on a wing before being moved to half-forward in the second-half following the tackle.
The silky left-footer said the tackle caught him by surprise.
"I reckon it's the hardest I have been hit," he said.
"I was blindsided a bit with my hands above my head but you get that.
"When you haven't played it probably hurts a bit more.
"I'll be better for the run."
Grills and Gaynor had trained with Wagga Tigers on a handful of occasions before the match with the Holbrook-product becoming familiar with most of his teammates.
"I knew most of the side by Saturday," he said.
"They are a great group of blokes.
"With Jake and Shaun (Campbell) getting rubbed out just before we started that didn't help and I'm pretty sure we will only get better."
Wagga Tigers face possibly the biggest test in this season's six-team competition against Ganmain-Grong Grong-Matong at Ganmain on Saturday.
The Lions defeated Turvey Park comfortably at the weekend despite only reasonable returns from Ovens and Murray duo Matt Neagle and Nick Murray and star forward Riley Corbett.
Grills was originally set to represent the Albury-Holbrook Polocrosse Club at Narrabri this weekend before the event was cancelled due to coronavirus restrictions.
"I might miss a game or two later in the year but I'm not sure yet," he said.