The Tri Colours looked to be outmatched by the home side, only scoring a major in the final minutes of the first term and trailing the Tigers by nine points at quarter time.

An entirely different Ainslie outfit came out to play in the second, dominating centre clearances and winning a lot of the ball.

A dislocated elbow from Jono Bowyer and a hamstring strain to Timmy Shea left the backline lacking, interchange options were down to a minimum and the margin was 14 points at halftime in favour of the Tri Colours.

Queanbeyan attacked the third quarter with speed and intensity- star recruit Kane Godde was pushed into the midfield and found plenty of ball.

The Tigers still trailed by 17 points at the final break, but dug deep in the fourth quarter to get back into the match.

A goal on the siren from Tigers legend Mark Armstrong sealed the 13.7 (85) to 12.5 (77) victory for Queanbeyan.

Tigers player/coach Kade Klemke said the team all but hung up their boots after the first quarter, Ainslie's sub par first quarter performance left them thinking they could cruise to victory. He said the boys need to work on performing well for the whole game.

"We started the first quarter pretty well and got the ball inside our 50 a lot, so we were on top early," Klemke said.

"The second quarter completely changed and [Ainslie] won a lot of footy, we lost a lot of centre clearances and leaked too many goals too fast.

"To the boys credit they knew what had to be done and dug deep in the last and came away with the win."

New Tigers captain and usual goal sneak Andrew Swan played almost entirely in the ruck, which Klemke said suprisingly did not leave the forward line struggling.

"He plays a very versatile role- he played very well in the ruck and it was almost like having another midfielder," he said.

"Kane Godde played well and Matt Grocott stood up in the last.

"Alec McCormick played really well in fullback- his opponent was a NEAFL player and I don't think he lost a contest."

Queanbeyan take on the Hawks at Greenway Oval on Saturday and Klemke said the number of ex-Tigers now playing for Tuggeranong will turn it into a "bit of a grudge match" and his side will have to step up if they want to win.

"We played good in patches and bad in patches [against Ainslie]," he said.

"[Tuggeranong] will be up there this year. We beat them in the preseason competition, but as I've said before I don't really take much notice of that. We're expecting a lot tougher contest and definitely not an easy match.

"I thought we went up to a higher level and had more intensity in the third quarter [against Ainslie]- if we can play like that [against Tuggeranong] we'll be a chance.

"We have to use our speed and take the game on, work on our spread, defence and one-on-one battles, but it's going to take a real team performance."