The Cannons opened with a 14.5-0.5 win at home against Edgeworth, narrowly missing the bonus point, and followed it with a 13-2 win on the road against Maitland City Hunters.

Kurri leads the 16-team competition on 27.5 points from Soldiers Point on 25, Terrigal on 24.5, Raymond Terrace Jets 20.5 and East Maitland Griffins 20.

The Griffins have a strong and deep line-up this year and have started with 10-5 wins against Mayfield West and Wallsend.

The Jets smashed Charlestown 14.5-0.5 in their first game but had a second round 6-9 loss away to Soldiers Point

Maitland City had a 9-6 win against Valentine to start the season, but despite most games going down to the wire could take just two points from their game against the Cannons.

“The format of this competition can throw up results like that,” Hunters captain DJ Dilworth said.

“The singles and triples both were decided by tie-breaks. You get a point for each set you win and three points for winning the match.

“It was much closer than the 13-2 scoreline suggested, but some weeks that works in your favour and the next you lose big.

“It’s early days there’s plenty of time to get points and wins on the board but you do need to maximise them when you can.

“I think our strength this season will be our depth of talent. It’s a long season an we will be able to cover players when they are unavailable.”

East Cessnock Comets have made a good start to the year and are equal 7th with Valentine on 17.5 points after a win and a loss in their first two games.

The Comets have been at home for their opening two matches, losing  6.5-8.5 to Windale Eagles first up.

,But they bounced back to winning form to defeat Beresfield 11-4 in round two.

It’s the second 4-11 loss for the Magpies who lost to Mayfield West in their opening match at home.

Dilworth tipped Kurri Kurri, Raymond Terrace, Valentine, East Maitland, Beresfield and East Cessnock to be among the top teams in this year’s changed format.

This year’s competition is no longer divided into groups, with teams playing each other once.

There will be 15 rounds and the top six teams at the end of the qualifying series will advance to the play-offs, with big cash prizes on offer.

Dilworth said the competition would be evened out over a two-year period, with away teams hosting the reverse fixture the following year.

In this week’s games Beresfield will be hoping to find form at home when they face East Maitland on Thursday night.

The Raymond Terrace Jets will be keen to claim maximum points at home against a struggling Wallsend and Kurri travel to take on Mayfield West, who have a win and loss.