Saving their best for last, titleholders University scored two late tries to escape with a 17-11 triumph over the Wollongong Vikings on Saturday at University Oval.
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The Mallee Bulls looked like they were in for an easy afternoon after scoring an early try and spending the first 10 minutes deep inside the visitors' territory.
But the Blueys had other ideas, kicking a penalty goal and scoring a try to be up 8-5 at half-time.
They extended the lead to 11-5 with a penalty goal in the opening minutes of the second half and continued to keep the Bulls at bay.
But Uni awoke in the nick of time, forging ahead 12-11 with a converted try before sealing victory with their third try in the closing stages.
"We finished the last five minutes strong but we were pretty flat across the board. We probably under-estimated Vikings' capability," University coach Dion Miller said.
"They were very tough and [coach] Sean Barrett's obviously got them working well, so it's something to keep an eye on.
"To be fair to our boys, that's our second game because we didn't have any preseason trials.
"We're still trying different things to see how we're going to play this year because we've got a whole new back line and I'm probably going to change the style a touch from how we played last year."
Uni have lost key players from last year's premiership-winning team.
They still boast arguably the competition's best player in No.8 Paul Tuala and might not have got away with beating the Blueys if he hadn't made a couple of crucial tackles.
"It could've gone either way," Miller said.
"We started well and everything went to plan, but we just fell off a bit.
"To Vikings' credit, they were well drilled and they got a result from everything they did.
"They've got a new structure and looked good.
"We're just finding ourselves and seeing where we're at, and obviously when you're the defending champs every team will want to come and beat us every week.
"We have to be prepared for that."
Uni are unbeaten after two rounds, while the Blueys are 1-1.
"The mood in the change-room after the game was very positive," Barrett said.
"We've got guys coming back from injury and our older guys are stepping up in leadership and showing the younger guys the way.
"Uni are the benchmark and have that game awareness of knowing what to do when they need to do it, and we haven't got that experience as a group yet."
Shoalhaven beat the Woonona Shamrocks 28-6, while Campbelltown overcame Bowral 14-3.
The Tech Waratahs v Camden and Avondale v Kiama games were postponed due to wet weather.