As Tamworth piled on the points in the first half against Glen Innes on Saturday, there was one man those watching on at Tamworth Rugby Park were talking about - Tevita Pecili Lagimiri or "Tex" as he is better known.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
On a bitterly cold winters day, the Magpies fullback set the game alight, crossing for five tries to set a new club first grade record. He also kicked two conversions to fall just short of Harry Snook's record top-grade points haul of 37 achieved against Barbarians last year.
Five-eighth Livonia Tuicakau and Harry Mills also crossed for doubles as the Magpies ran out 77-5 victors and made it three-from-three.
READ ALSO:
The signs were ominous for the Elks from the opening couple of minutes with Magpies number eight Tom Capel crossing. Lagimiri scored his first a couple of minutes later.
From there it was an onslaught, Lagimiri cutting the Elks apart and running in another three tries as the Magpies racked up 43 unanswered points in the first half.
The 25-year old came out from Suva about nine months ago to "play footy".
He had originally intended to play league with North Tamworth but when the Group 4 competition was cancelled the Magpies gave him an opportunity. It has, you could say, been a win-win.
Magpies coach Peter Burke has dubbed him his Mr Fix-It due to his capability to play so many positions. So far Lagimiri, who the Bears had slated as Kieran Fisher's replacement at halfback, has played fullback, half-back and on the wing. He can also play five-eighth and outside centre.
"He's just a complete footballer," Burke said.
"He's fit, he's strong, he's fast. He breaks tackles, he makes tackles."
And can hit a hole.
Lagimiri for his part just "loves" playing footy. Back in Fiji he played both league and union.
He is thankful the Magpies "opened the door" for him and is enjoying it - apart from the weather. The four degrees at training last Tuesday night was a bit tough.
He has also enjoyed reuniting with North's team-mates Richard Clegg and Jeremy York, and in more recent weeks Scott Blanch. That connection is starting to come through with Clegg setting him up for a couple of his tries.
He has also played a lot with Tuicakau.
"We always played (rugby) together in Fiji. So there's a good connection with him," he said.
"We like to play together."
Mills' double was another highlight. His first was straight out of his playbook from last week, the prop running this time probably running 30 metres as he charged down the sideline.
A bit of a cult figure, the chant "Millsy" started up after his second, the crowd urging for him to take the conversion. He did but it wasn't pretty.
Burke, while happy with the performance wasn't getting carried away, acknowledging that they were allowed to play they way they did.
"The good thing was we executed well when we needed to," he said.
"When the forwards did what they were meant to do and the backs did what they meant to do we looked good."
But there are, he said "still plenty of things we can do to improve on that performance".
The Elks had braced for a tough test, and that was exactly what they got, coach Tom Benton admitting the Magpies were just too big, too strong and too fast.
"The size factor was pretty big all across the park," he said.
"Three or four of our biggest boys went down last week and you could just see it across the park, just getting outmuscled, the speed, the athleticism was just a step above."
He did make special mention of half-back Mark Law.
"That's his second game of rugby. I think he's only 18 and he's playing nine for us there in first grade and he did quite a good job," he said.
Elsewhere Armidale defeated Barbarians 39-12, Walcha accounted for St Alberts 40-14 and the Harbour Knights thrashed Robb 39-nil.