Meanwhile, in the Plate the Bingara Bullets got one over Quirindi with a tight 42-38 win, while Manilla beat Bendemeer 46-30, and Walcha beat Barraba at home 38-30.

The Panthers braved the cold conditions at Uralla only to get savaged by the Tigers, with Uralla president Carl Press saying that the visitors did alright for a side that only arrived with 13 players to take on the ladder leaders.

“It was two degrees with a wind chill factor of minus six,” Press said.

“So it was a bit chilly.” 

The conditions didn’t seem to bother the home side too much, the Tigers racing in points to head to the warmth of the sheds at halftime with a 36-nil lead.

Following the break the Panthers came out fighting and managed to put on two tries before Uralla closed the game out to win 76-10.

It was captain-coach Justin Fox’s first official game for the Tigers, after the former Dungowan frontrower broke his arm in the opening match of the pre-season Wests Knockout.

“He came on in the back row and carried the ball well and came through unscathed,” Press said.

“He doesn’t want to upset the front row we have, so will probably play second row or lock.” 

Centre Mitch Cooper was the star of the match, crossing for four tries, while fellow centre Paul Jackson also dominated the other side of the ruck.

The win sees the Tigers not only stay clear at the top of the table, but also go three points clear of Dungowan, Boggabri and Werris Creek who are all on 12 points. Unbelievably the sides are so close that the results sees Boggabri and Werris Creek even tied second on for and against, and even more unbelievably both sides have scored 266 points and had 128 scored against them, while the Cowboys sit in fourth 98 points behind.

Following next week’s representative bye round a mouth watering round will see Uralla and Werris Creek clash while Dungowan and Boggabri will do battle as the race to secure the top two spots heats up.