It wasn't quite the energy explosion of the previous week, but the North Tamworth under-18s got the job done at Denman on Saturday, grinding their way to a 20-14 win.
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The Bears were expecting the Devils to be a much tougher proposition than opening round opponents Stockton - they won 72-nil - and they certainly proved to be.
"They were a good side," Bears co-coach Tom Learoyd-Lahrs said.
"They had both the Northern Division halves and someone who has played SG Ball for the Knights as a front rower, and had another four or five blokes that played for Northern Division."
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By the same token, from what he saw - he missed the first half as he was en route from Scone where the Farrer under-14s were playing - he thought by their standards the Bears "probably weren't where we should be playing".
"We were aright but there were a few little defensive things there that I thought for where we usually are, could have been better," he said.
In saying that the Devils did have a lot of shots at their line at times.
"We hadn't played a hard game of footy this year," Learoyd-Lahrs said with the Stockton game their first in 11 months.
"It's hard to gauge where you are at until you play a hard game."
And the second round is always the one you worry about, he said, after that buzz of excitement of the first game.
He thought the Bears "big boys" did a good job for them, particularly Seb Pianko and Mark Simon.
"Dan Kelly scored a nice try and Zac Coleman scored a nice try, and Adrian Graham came up with some big plays for a young fullback that hasn't played a lot of fullback," he said.
In his first game for them, Tom Matheson was also good.
It was a day of mixed fortunes for the Bears' mentor after the Farrer 14s went down to Scone.
"They didn't play overly well," he said.
Like the Bears', the energy was lacking on the week before. The opposition was also a lot better.
"There's some positives there as well but I think they've just got to get used to playing at a good sort of level," Learoyd-Lahrs said.
The Farrer under-15s were supposed to play Valentine in Newcastle, but in light of the increased COVID activity in Newcastle the school made the decision to withdraw from the game.