The Bears crushed Collegian 90-8 in a round seven clash at Jack Woolastan Oval on Sunday to record their sixth straight win after being edged by the Blues in Narrabri in round one.

Norths have a history of not dropping their intensity against the Warriors – or at least not too much – and that was again the case on Sunday.

Blanch said: “We spoke about that before the game, just about our effort against Narrabri (a 40-6 win in round six). We have wanted to keep that momentum following, and I thought we did that again today.

“Our ‘D’ (defence) was good again. We just want to keep that intensity there for the back end of the season.”

He added: “We’re building pretty good momentum.”

For the Warriors, it was a return to reality.

After pipping fellow strugglers Wee Waa in round five to record their first win of the season, and following that by almost upsetting Gunnedah, the Warriors were, as expected, blown off the park by Norths.

The Bears crossed for 17 tries, with centre Richard Clegg and winger Lynken Dickson bagging hat-tricks.

The Bears led 48-4 at the break. The Warriors’ two tries – one in each half – were scored by halfback Scott Berry and replacement Nathan Fuller.

In other First Division games played on Sunday, Narrabri thumped South West Robins 78-14 and Gunnedah beat Wee Waa 72-16.