Wests Tigers have announced their arrival in the NRLW with a 36-8 thrashing of last year's runners-up Parramatta.

In Sunday's other round-one match, Cronulla defeated fellow newcomers Canberra 28-14.

Fielding seven debutants at Western Sydney Stadium, the Tigers had been tipped to take time to warm into their inaugural season, given the number of fresh faces on their roster.

But established players Sarah Togatuki and Botille Vette-Welsh stood up in a fast-finishing win that gives long-suffering Tigers fans something to cheer about.

Togatuki finished with 219 run metres — almost 100 more than any Eels forward — and the try that opened the floodgates in the second half.

Fullback Vette-Welsh celebrated her first match back from an anterior cruciate ligament injury with an early try and five late assists, mostly in the form of dynamic passes for her edge players.

The Eels lost their two star recruits Elsie Albert and Rachael Pearson to calf injuries in their final training session but had the better of the first half against the Tigers, despite needing to make last-minute changes.

Zali Fay became the second player to score two tries in an NRLW match for Parramatta, crossing twice on the left wing to help the Eels to a 8-4 half-time lead.

But that was as good as it got for the home side.

Vette-Welsh became the Tigers' first NRLW try scorer in her first premiership match since suffering an ACL tear that ruled her out of the 2022 season.

She dummied and stepped inside a hole on the left, but errors prevented the Tigers from scoring again in the first half.

But when Vette-Welsh scooted into the line and passed to a flying Togatuki, the former Sydney Rooster ran 30 metres to score and sparked a 19-minute skirmish during which the Tigers scored five more times.

Five years after being controversially denied entry to the NRLW, Cronulla piled on six tries to three against Canberra at Shark Park.

NSW State of Origin stars Emma Tonegato and hooker Quincy Dodd, and exciting teenage fullback Jada Taylor were the stand-outs for the Sharks.

Tonegato made the shift from fullback to five-eighth to accommodate Taylor's inclusion and controlled the match with aplomb while also etching her name in the history books as Cronulla's first NRLW try scorer.

Centre and captain Tiana Penitani, impressive second rower Vanessa Foliaki and prop Ellie Johnston also crossed for the victors.

After jumping out to a 14-0 lead, the Sharks had to weather a mid-match fightback from the Raiders and would have won more handsomely had halfback Tayla Preston slotted more than two of her six conversion attempts.

The Raiders threatened a comeback when they narrowed the deficit to four points with quickfire tries either side of the break through winger Madison Bartlett — who finished with a double — and interchange hooker Emma Barnes.

But Dodd snuffed out the recovery mission with her second try in the 42nd minute, this time squeezing over from dummy half after a runaway effort before the interval.

AAP/ABC