GEELONG and Port Adelaide joined forces to achieve a rare feat in round one.

Both clubs enjoyed wins after blooding four debutants, becoming just the second two-team combination in the past 60 years to do so in the same round.

The previous occasion was in round one, 1990, when both Sydney and West Coast triumphed with four first-gamers, including eventual Swans great Paul Kelly and future Eagles champions Peter Matera and Dean Kemp.

According to data provided by the AFL's statistical department, there have been 339 cases of League teams selecting at least four debutants, resulting in 110 wins (a strike rate of just 32.5 per cent), 223 losses and six draws.

In the past 25 years, there have been 16 instances with just five of those teams being victorious.

Adding to the merits of this latest joint effort was the fact each of the youngsters contributed to stunning upsets against premiership fancies – the Cats beat last year's runner-up Collingwood under lights at the MCG, while the Power shocked Melbourne at the same venue the next day.

Port's mass injection of youthful exuberance – Connor Rozee (19), Zak Butters (18), Xavier Duursma (18) and Willem Drew (20) – was one of the reasons coach Ken Hinkley hailed his team's performance as the best win in his time in charge.

In total, the Power made 11 changes to the team that lost to Essendon in the final round last year.

In the lead up to the clash with the Demons, Hinkley added to the selection intrigue and played some mind games with the opposition by telling reporters: "It makes it hard for Melbourne to predict what we're going to do, because we don't know what we're going to do."

What they did was outwork and outplay the Demons, and their young quartet was in the thick of it.

"People use words like 'gift games' … There is not one of those players who were gifted a game – they had to earn them," Hinkley said post-match.

Geelong coach Chris Scott was equally bullish about his newcomers – Tom Atkins (23), Charlie Constable (19), Jordan Clark (18) and Gryan Miers (19).

"We were really proud of them. We thought they all executed their role, as we thought they would," he said.

"One of the really pleasing things is they didn't look overawed by the occasion and not many young players get the opportunity on a Friday night, in a big game against Collingwood, at three-quarter time, to contribute to a win.

"Hopefully that will give them some confidence. There's a long way to go and there's a lot of growth in them but we are excited."

The Cats had won just two of their previous 12 games with at least four first-gamers, their previous attempt being a loss in 1974, and their previous win in those circumstances being in 1971.

It was the third time Port Adelaide had fielded four or more debutants, with a loss coming in their inaugural game in 1997, and a win in round one, 2010, when they defeated North Melbourne with first-gamers Jackson Trengove, Mitch Banner, Cam Hitchcock and Andrew Moore – none of whom remain at the club. 

MULTIPLE TEAMS WINNING WITH AT LEAST FOUR DEBUTANTS IN THE SAME ROUND (1960-2019)

* Statistics courtesy of Col Hutchinson and Mark Genge.