It was a successful outing in the opening round last weekend for Bathurst top tier side, knocking over Dubbo and Forbes each on two occasions but falling to the defending champion and home side Orange in their only defeat of the day.

Bathurst opened their account with a big 28-15 win over Forbes but were pushed by Dubbo in a 21-18 victory.

Orange proved too strong in a 29-16 result but Bathurst bounced back with a 32-28 win against Dubbo and a 25-22 success against Forbes.

Bathurst know they've got the capability of being a nuisance against the ever-dominant Orange women though it will require the team to take a big step forward.

Bathurst Netball Association media manager Vanessa Fitzgerald said the team were very pleased with the way they progressed.

"They won four out of five, only going down to Orange in a bit of a heart breaking result. They have the potential - both our division one and two teams - of beating Orange but they were still really great," she said.

"In division one we had two girls, Hope Coombes and Taliyaha Chatfield, who are only 15 and playing against girls who are under 23s. Our older girls did a great job of guiding them.

"Mia Baggett, our shooter, has only been playing for two years but was absolutely brilliant.

"We also had NSW selectors there and former Australian player and coach Jill McIntosh as part of that group."

Fitzgerald said the team couldn't be too disappointed by the way they performed against Orange.

"I think we just made a couple of wrong choices with not putting players on at the right times," she said.

"They haven't played netball for a long time, considering the COVID situation last year shortened the season, and they did a good job."

Normally Bathurst would also be fielding a third division side but that's no longer the case in 2021.

"We only have division one and two teams this year because they've changed the rules up," Fitzgerald said.

"It's a good and bad thing in some ways because it means we can't send our under 14s and 15s as we've done in years past but the changes give them the chance to develop and work hard towards a place in the regional team."

Bathurst would have been the defending champions in both division three and four.

Orange locked out last year's grand final with their two teams going up against one another.

Bathurst last won the division one crown in 2017, ending Orange's 21-year winning streak.

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