Eather rued a lack of personnel after succumbing 50-44 to newcomers Norths in the first round, when Lions were unable to exploit the new rolling substitutions rule and "ran out of legs".

But the added boost of midcourters Aneeka Marcozzi and Ingrid Fitzpatrick, who could not play the opening game, on Saturday gave Souths the opportunity to show their versatility.

Experienced circle defender Nakita Jackson was a prime example, playing the first half in the shooting end before reverting to her more accustomed position after the main break.

After leading by just one goal at quarter-time then half-time, Souths took a 35-26 advantage into the final period.

"Nova played quite well and it took us a while to grind them down," Eather said.

"In that third quarter we tried out some different combos. The rolling subs were really good. I think it makes the game a lot stronger and high intensity across the whole 60 minutes.

"I changed a few people around, and just being able to throw on some fresh legs helped our speed of the ball through the middle in that third quarter.

"Moving Nakita back in from the shooting end to the defending end to change it up was also very helpful. We definitely need her at both ends. We've got three solid circle defenders and just rotated them with the rolling subs."

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Junction Stella led at every break to beat BNC Whanau 57-30 and open the season with back-to-back wins after downing Waratah in round one.

But goal shooter and co-coach Kelly Wilson knows Junction have a tough period looming in which they play five-time defending champions West Leagues Balance, Souths then Nova after the competition breaks now until May 4.

"It's been a really solid start, both have been really good margin wins," Wilson said.

"We're really pleased with what we've been putting on court across the whole court, so we just want to build on that now.

"One thing we're trying to work towards is our intensity as a team and making sure we can continue what we've put on court for the past two weeks against those top-four clubs.

"I'm really looking forward to seeing what this team can do against them. It's the first year in a couple of years where we've had really consistent attendance and numbers for our side and that really has shown in what we've been able to put on court for the last two weeks."

Newcomers Norths backed up their first-round win by beating Waratah 53-20 while West Leagues Balance downed Kotara South 36-16.