St Kilda have given coach Ross Lyon the perfect start to his second stint in charge of the AFL club with a shock 15-point win over his former side Fremantle.
Earlier, Essendon put on a clinic to belt Hawthorn by 59 points while GWS opened their account with a spirited come from behind win over Adelaide.
The injury-hit Saints were at long odds to challenge last year's beaten semi-finalists, but kicked the final five goals of the game to post a 10.7 (67) to 7.10 (52) victory at Docklands Stadium on Sunday.
Neither side led by more than two goals in a scrappy contest until the home side surged with last-quarter majors to Mason Wood (two), Jade Gresham and makeshift forward Zaine Cordy.
The deflated Dockers had no answer, posting 0.4 to the Saints' 4.1 in the decisive final term.
Fremantle superstar Nat Fyfe went goalless from just nine disposals in his new role deep in attack.
There were question marks around St Kilda's scoring ability without key forwards Max King and Tim Membrey, among at least half a dozen players missing from their best side through injury.
But Wood, Gresham and Mitch Owens kicked two majors each to help get their side over the line.
Brad Crouch (30 disposals), Ryan Byrnes (27) and Jack Steele (27) won plenty of the ball as Mattaes Phillipou and Anthony Caminiti both showed glimpses of promise on debut.
Fremantle defender Brennan Cox threatened the AFL/VFL record of 24 marks, held jointly by Melbourne's Greg Parke (1970) and former Bulldogs defender Brian Lake (2007).
But the statistic was indicative of the Dockers' slow build-up play from their back half.
Seventeen of Cox's 20 grabs were uncontested as he, Luke Ryan and Hayden Young ran up huge possession tallies by regularly chipping the ball around in defence.
It gave St Kilda plenty of time to get numbers back in defence, clogging up space and making for a low-scoring contest.
A pair of 50m penalties against Callum Wilkie and Jack Steele for backchat cost St Kilda two goals as Fremantle briefly hit the front during the second term.
The Dockers led by six points at the final change but St Kilda finished full of running to complete a stunning upset.
Bombers blitz helpless Hawks for MCG thumping
Essendon cult figure Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti has thrilled the Bombers faithful in their 59-point AFL belting of arch-rivals Hawthorn.
In his first senior game since late 2021, McDonald-Tipungwuti generated the biggest cheers of the match when he was subbed into the game during the last quarter.
He kicked a goal moments later as the Bombers started the regime of coach Brad Scott with the 19.10 (124) to 9.11 (65) victory.
McDonald-Tipungwuti, known as Walla, briefly retired from the AFL last year before he was talked into returning.
His goal capped an impressive Sunday afternoon for the Bombers at the MCG, with father-son recruit Alwyn Davey also kicking a goal on debut.
Bombers forward Archie Perkins starred with 20 disposals, seven marks and three goals, while on-baller Darcy Parish racked up a game-high 37 disposals.
In his 200th game, Essendon midfielder Dylan Shiel left the field in the last quarter with a sore shoulder, while Hawks veteran Chad Wingard (calf) also went off in the final term.
Essendon recovered from some scratchy ball use in the second term to overwhelm the Hawks.
Hawthorn had won their last five round one matches and used this season opener to honour the 1983 premiership team, who mauled Essendon in that year's grand final.
But the Bombers had the much better sense of occasion, producing a solid win to give their fans a badly needed morale boost following a tumultuous off-season.
After Essendon opened with two quick goals, Hawthorn steadied and kicked the next four - including an outstanding piece of play from Wingard when his baulk left the Bombers' defenders flat-footed.
A late goal from Essendon's Jye Menzie restricted the damage to 10 points at the first change.
The lead switched repeatedly in the second term and so did play, as a succession of turnovers meant ping-pong football.
Midway through the second quarter, Changkuoth Jiath rivalled Wingard for goal of the day with his polished finish on the run.
It gave Hawthorn the lead again and they were looking more likely to break the game open.
But it was their last goal of the half, as former Melbourne forward Sam Weideman kicked two and Davey thrilled the Bombers fans just before the main break.
After missing a couple of chances, Davey kicked accurately from his set shot and Essendon led by 16 at half-time.
Perkins kicked two goals in the third quarter and lit up the game as Essendon overpowered Hawthorn with six goals to two behinds, for a 53-point lead at the last break.
Hawthorn broke Essendon's run of eight goals when Luke Breust kicked his second, four minutes into the final term.
New Hawks captain James Sicily had 30 possessions in defence and on-baller James Worpel impressed with 14 contested possessions and seven clearances.
Giants overrun Crows to complete stirring comeback
A brave GWS have overcome a fast-starting Adelaide and a host of injuries to claim a stirring 16-point victory for a dream start under new coach Adam Kingsley.
A four-goal haul from captain Toby Greene helped the Giants overrun the Crows, after giving them as much as a five-goal head start, to secure a 15.16 (106) to 12.18 (90) triumph at Giants Stadium on Sunday.
Greene was superb in his first game as stand-alone skipper, but the Giants had inspirational efforts across the field including Brent Daniels kicking the sealer in his first game for 590 days.
The small forward finished with two goals after being sidelined by a series of hamstring issues, while the Giants had to hang on late with next to no support available from their bench on a day of injury carnage.
Harry Perryman (hamstring), Lachie Whitfield and Josh Kelly (both concussion) were forced from the field before the match was on the line, while Nick Haynes was restricted by cramps but kicked a late, team-lifting goal as the Crows were threatening.
Jacob Wehr also spent time on the bench being assessed for concussion after a heavy hit from Shane McAdam that is sure to come under the scrutiny of the match review officer.
Emerging onballer Tom Green (37 disposals) was prominent throughout, and former skippers Stephen Coniglio (32) and Callan Ward (31) helped lead the Giants' second half revival.
The Crows' prized recruit Izak Rankine sparked his new club early but failed to make the Giants pay on the scoreboard with 2.5 from 18 disposals.
Josh Rachele showed his class with three goals, while the Crows' new skipper Jordan Dawson had 23 polished possessions.
Former Crows captain Rory Sloane finished with 18 touches and played out the match despite being involved in accidental head clashes that forced a couple of Giants out of the contest.
Darcy Fogarty kicked two goals but could not make the distance from just outside 50m as the Crows made one last charge before Daniels kicked the final major of the match.
The Giants were surprisingly insipid early in Kingsley's first game in charge as they laid only two tackles in the opening term, but the Crows failed to make them pay with 4.9 to 2.2 on the scoreboard.
The hosts finally lifted when kicking the first four goals of the third term to reduce the margin to less than a goal, then gradually wore down the Crows, even with few reinforcements late in the game.
The Giants travel to Perth seeking to go 2-0 against West Coast on Sunday, while the Crows will be out to bounce back when they host Richmond on Saturday.
