The Lions got home 22-17 against Tamworth in a close tussle that saw scores locked at 12-all at half-time, to move to the top of the Tier 2 standings. And the Rams accounted for Inverell 16-10 to kick two wins clear of the Highlanders in the battle for fourth spot.

Gunnedah won the other Tier 2 clash 50-39 over Scone.

There was nothing in it at half-time with both sides scoring 22 points, but the Red Devils pulled away in the second half.

"They actually did what we talked about at half-time," coach Jason Waerea said.

First and foremost they stopped ball gazing, and allowing Brumbies number eight Doug McKillop to link up with his support.

"They started to drop him in the second half and started to defend the guy he was going to offload to," Waerea said. "That stopped the Scone go-forward and gave us a lot of ball."

Ball they were able to turn into points.