But you won’t always get to play the game on those terms.
Sometimes, it will simply be a war of attrition, where a team will have to hang on to a lead as the game goes on.
On Saturday, Echuca had both situations play out.
Echuca flew out of the blocks against fellow top six fancy Tatura, kicking six goals in the opening quarter of the match and 10 of the 15 goals kicked before half time.
But with players pummelled by 32 degree heat, and two players removed from the game for precautionary reasons, Echuca had to hold on.
While the match never felt like it was out of Echuca’s hands – the side lead by 10 goals at one stage – it was further showing the Murray Bombers are able to hold off good teams, while improving Echuca’s record to three and zero for the second year in a row.
“We’ve talked a lot about how important it was to get off to the best possible start in the opening weeks of the season,” Echuca co-coach Andrew Walker said.
“We’ve got another tough one coming up this week, so it was really pleasing for the club to do exactly what we wanted.”
Despite the heat and personnel issues the club faced, the high impact pressure game of Echuca didn’t fade once.
While ball wasn’t always perfect, Echuca’s tackling continued to force a number of free kicks, while the pressure forced Tat to make basic mistakes.
Walker said the club had prepared its team well enough that the weather wasn’t a major issue.
“The weather is a factor, but every side has to play in it. We didn’t bring it up, once you do people start to think about it,” he said.
“We trusted our preparation, so even when we were down players we knew how we had prepared for the match and the fact it would be able to get us over the line.”
Walker left the game with what he described as a grab in his left hamstring, while Jordan Frew suffered a rolled ankle.
Walker has forecast no issues for either player for their next match.
“Jordan was assessed at the ground and it’s just an ankle roll,” he said.
“He will do his rehab throughout the week and we will keep an eye on it, but I don’t see it being an issue.
“I had a minor grab in my hammy, it was one of those cases where I could have kept playing, but we had a handy lead so we decided to end my day there.”
Walker wasn’t seen with ice on his leg, strengthening the case the injury is not a serious concern.
Echuca will turn their attentions to Kyabram, with the bottle green looking for their first win against the juggernaut since 2011.