Dan Ryan was impressed by London Pulse's first outing of the new Vitality Netball Superleague season and head coach Samantha Bird's management of her young squad.
The franchise, who finished at the foot of the table last season, commenced their new campaign with a 53-51 victory over Strathclyde Sirens at Arena Birmingham on Saturday.
Ahead of the first Centre Pass, Ryan highlighted the potential of the much-changed franchise due to their recruitment of Bird and the types of players she has sought.
"What they've done with the recruitment of Sam Bird, who I think is a really nice fit, is be able to attract some really good local talent who are the next generation of English netball," the Northern Ireland and Leeds Rhinos Netball head coach said.
"There's a really good identity about London Pulse now but also a really diverse, eclectic and international flavour.
"I think that they might be one of the movers in the competition. As the season progresses, they will continually get better and better because of the youth on their side and they have some nice experience in there as well."
If Pulse use their Round One performance as their base level and build off it, then Ryan's predictions may prove to be correct. From start to finish, a fresh line-up managed to play in front of a crowd of 9,250 fans with ease.
Throughout the match, Bird's tactical changes paid dividends.
She introduced 19-year-old Kira Rothwell to change the picture in their shooting end prior to the interval and then added 17-year-old defender Funmi Fadoju in the third quarter.
The two England U21 athletes stepped onto the Season Opener stage like old-timers and introduced themselves to the rest of the league in considerable style.
Rothwell's speed in Pulse's attacking third posed questions for Sirens and her feeds into Sigi Burger landed with ease.
At the other end, Fadoju linked up with England Futures' athlete Halimat Adio strongly. As a duo they hassled a Sirens shooting partnership that was having a difficult day and continually disrupted their shots.
The average age of Pulse's playing squad is 22-years-old and head coach Bird was impressed by the way in which they handled the occasion and the match.
"It was a really, really exciting game. The girls were obviously very nervous and very excited and as everyone knows, we're a completely new group," the head coach said.
"Some of the structure was there and some of it went completely out of the window but I was really pleased that when we made changes the players responded really well.
"The changes were based on performance and reading that during the game, I think the fact that we can make those changes so early in the season (and them be so effective) means that we've done something right in pre-season."
The elephant in the room for London Pulse is the fact that last season they also won their opening match and then did not taste victory again until April.
However the fact they are a much-changed side, and the manner in which they were able to fend-off Sirens in the final quarter, will enhance their belief that history will not be repeated this time around.
Creating the next generation of athletes is an integral part of the vision at Pulse and although this was just one performance, the signs are pointing in the right direction towards them achieving their goal.
Coverage of the Vitality Superleague season continues on March 2 when Surrey Storm entertain London Pulse, join us on Sky Sports Arena, Mix and YouTube from 7pm.