The Rams jumped to early favouritism for the tier two honours with an emphatic 60-12 win over their namesakes.

The backs were dynamic, with fullback Richard Young and inside centre Ed Churchill,  in particular, carving up Barraba.

Young scored four tries while Churchill bagged three.

“We had a great day out,” Rams prop Sam Martin said.

He said Barraba came out with a lot of force and their defence probably wasn’t as it should have been early on but  once they fixed that up and got the ball in hands of the likes of Young and Churchill, half-back Soni Halanukonuka and five-eighth Simon Newton, the points started to come.

“They were too strong on their feet,” Martin said.

Halanukonuka and Newton really pulled the strings and initiated a lot of their tries.

“Every time they got the ball they beat three of four tackles,” Martin said.

More often than not, Young and Churchill were there in support and finished off.

The plan was to run it at Barraba.

“Barraba has got a really good forward pack,” Martin said.

“Our plan was to try to play with a bit of width against them.”

It was a similar plan to what got them so close to Narrabri, and they executed it pretty well, especially in the second half.

Halanukonuka’s efforts didn’t go unrewarded. He did get across the line and received the three points.

Breakaway Will Fletcher got the two while Newton and Martin shared the one.

Martin said it was a great start to the competition for them.

“We really want to make a statement,” he said.

“At the end of the day we were a bit disappointed not to make the top tier.”