The Gundy Boars entered the competition as unknowns this season, with a few teams dreading the away trip.

Following a poor display at the pre-season Gala Day in Moree, some clubs might have looked at them as an easy two points.

Those thoughts were put to bed a fortnight ago when they cleaned up the Armidale Rams in front of a big home crowd 44-18 in their first game.

President Peter Rice said the club had a great supporter base up there.

“That first-up win over Armidale was great,” Rice said.

“Although this game against Tingha will let us know how we  sit in the competition.”

The Tigers are coming off the back of good wins over Ashford and Uralla and are  sitting on top of the ladder.

They share that honour with Glen Innes who will be hoping to stay there following a trip to Ashford today.

The Roosters were a bit rudderless last game after losing coach Tony Gleeson on the Friday night before the game.

Ashford has hopefully put a few weeks of turmoil behind it and has named Jason Luckett as interim coach.

With a few new players on their books and an extra year’s experience, the Roosters may upset a few teams.

President Mick Lewis said  the side would be much more competitive this year.

Uralla shares the bottom of the table with the Roosters and is  desperate to get its season going after some big recruitment in the off-season.

The Tigers will host Moree Boars who will come in with some momentum after registering their first win in the Group over the Roosters last round.

Uralla has a very nifty backline that can be damaging, with the likes of former Ram Lewis Ahoy leading the side  around.

The young team has struggled to hold its own up front, although has signed up a former Fijian national squad prop.

Armidale will be looking to make amends for a poor performance against Gundy a fortnight ago when it host  Inverell.

The Hawks had plenty of wraps on them at the start of the year, although were touched up by the premiers in the second round following a first-round bye.

With a good player roster and Peter Stevens at the helm it is only a matter of time before they find their groove.

President Garry Lavender said  the club needs to come away from Armidale with two points.

“We are just going to concentrate on completing our sets and controlling the ball,” Lavender said.

“We are happy to just grind a win out at this time of year.”

Armidale on the other hand will need to use this game to prepare for a bout with the premiers.

The Boomerangs have the bye this week, and sit on two points, although along with Gundy, have a game in hand.

The premiers have looked a class above the field in their only game so far this season, against Inverell, as well as the pre-season fixtures.

Next week’s home game against the Rams will be their first in five weeks.

Coach Chris Binge said that the first game being postponed and then Easter and the bye hasn’t been the ideal start to the year.

“I was very happy with how we looked in our first game,” Binge said.

“We will be doing some hard and intense sessions at training to keep the boys ready to go.”