Leading 26-12 at half-time, the Bulls had a fight on their hands but Moree coach Dave Silversides’ words at half-time sunk in to see the Bulls win 66-19.

“We talked about our own defence, being a bit quicker with our line speed to shut them down and being more direct with our running which presented opportunities out wide,” he said.

“I must say, Barraba played particularly well in the first half.

“Their scrum was solid and they capitalised on some ill-discipline on our behalf which piggybacked them up the field on a number of occasions.

“Defensively, they were playing well and they were quite competitive.”

Breakaway Filimoni Nauwea with a hat-trick, No. 8 Sam Callow with a brace of tries – as he continues his return from injury – and Dan Sweeney’s try and seven goals provided the majority of Moree’s points.

Silversides said the scoring stemmed from the forwards’ efficiency in the middle.

“The whole back-row performed well throughout the game with their good work in the tackle area and solid work in set pieces,” Silversides said.

“They laid that platform to present opportunities out wide in the second half which we capitalised on.”

Moree started well, then finished in even better touch against Barraba – much to the delight of Silversides.

However, the coach said there were lapses of concentration during the middle part of the match by his side and it’d be something he’d be working on.

“It’s always a challenge to travel away, certainly when only first grade’s playing,” Silversides said.

“It can be difficult in that situation to start well, and I thought we did, but we drifted in the middle third.

“That’s one thing to work on going forward – to start well and then try and maintain that for the full 80 minutes.”

The Bulls now have three wins and a draw and sit equal third position alongside Gunnedah.