Warrnambool held on for a gripping 15-point victory over North Warrnambool on Saturday, it's first of the Hampden league season.

Blues coach Ben Parkinson could only describe it as a relief to get the four points.

"We haven't won a lot of footy these past two years, so to win against North especially will give the group a lot of confidence," he said.

"It sort of emphasises that what we're trying to do works.

"Hopefully we can carry on now. That's the standard we've set, so we don't want to drop the load."

A pre-season premiership favourite, North Warrnambool got off to a flyer at Reid Oval, kicking the first two goals of the day.

But the home side buckled down, prying back the lead in the opening minutes of the second term.

The Blues' second quarter dominance was arguably the turning point, their defensive pressure eventually leading to a flurry of goals before half time.

Scotty Morder was impressive early in his first outing for the Eagles, kicking two first half goals.

But lack of discipline hurt the visitors, including a costly 50 metre penalty that netted the Blues another goal after the half time siren.

Parkinson said a focus on defensive efforts had paid dividends on game day.

"It was something we'd focused on this week, we hadn't been tight enough," he said. "I thought our back six who rolled through there today were really terrific."

With Dan Weymouth (collarbone), Brad Bull (suspension) and Harry Ryan (unavailable) missing for the Blues, several younger teammates, including two 15-year-olds in Amon Radley and Reggie Mast, played key roles as the home side held off a persistent Eagles the second half.

"I thought they were terrific, if they weren't in our best six they're not far away," Parkinson said.

"You got a 15-year-old kid standing at the centre bounce, clapping his hands, psyching himself up, it just gets everyone else up."

Eagles mentor Adam Dowie cited composure around the contest as a defining feature of the result.

"Whenever we got the ball we were under a lot of pressure, and they sweated on us, tackled us," he said. "It was a game of territory and they got us playing a way we didn't necessarily want to play."

After losing consecutive games, Dowie said it was better to find out where his side's weaknesses lay now rather than later in the year.

"We can obviously do something about it," he said.