After months of hype, the wait was finally over as NWBL 2013 tipped off over the weekend.

The Be Active Perth Wheelcats hosted the Wollongong Rollerhawks in a rematch of the 2012 Grand Final and in the end it was the most one sided contest of the weekend.

The depth of the bench from the Wheelcats was too deep as they were never really challenged taking game one with a score of 80-62 and game two with a massive 96-49 win.

The key to the Wheelcats wins was spread and efficiency with five players reaching double figures in game one and 11 players hitting the scoresheet in game two. When players like Brad Ness, Robbie Pike, Kim Robins can come off the bench and score at about a point a minute there was just no let up for the Wollongong defence.

Even more encouraging for the Wheelcats was the fact that they got the result with Rollers stars Justin Eveson and Shaun Norris spending limited time on court. Both Eveson and Norris played just a tick over 20 minutes per game and Brad Ness played less than 17 minutes in both games with the bench able to get the job done against the 2012 Champions.

For the Rollerhawks it was Brett Stibners who was the standout in game one, showing that his step back from international duties has not affected his basketball putting up a game high 31 points to go with his 12 rebounds. He found it tougher going on Sunday, only able to manage 10 points at just 20% while teammate Nick Taylor bounced back to put up twenty points in game two.

Wollongong will find themselves on the bottom of the ladder after round one, but with three of their starting five still to come back in, it’ll only be short term pain for the Rollerhawks as they’ll be a different team in round two up in Brisbane.

The first warning shots have been fired though and the Wheelcats have sent a message to the rest of the league that they are the team to beat in 2013.

Click here for full results of Game 1

Click here for full results of Game 2