The Bulldogs are coming off an opening round, come-from-behind 24-20 away defeat of Boggabri.

"Sure, North Tamworth are the premiers and the favourites," he said. "But everybody has improved and I think it's lot closer, a lot of the sides are level-pegging.".

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Schmiedel said Gunnedah were "pretty good in patches" against the Roos.

"[We've] just got to stay a bit more patient and fix up a few fundamentals," he said.

"I think all of us might be a little nave about playing well after such a long time off. It might take until round four or five to be at your best."

Schmiedel will be without big back-rower Matt Baker this weekend.

The veteran mentor was delighted with a number of efforts last Saturday in the local derby success at Boggabri, especially from captain Reece Jaeger.

"We gave away four penalties with ball in hand and those could have escalated but for Reece," he said.

Young Dogs halfback Nick White made his first grade debut a memorable one, scoring two tries.

Schmiedel said: "He got our players' player [against the Roos] .. we had 17 votes and he got 14, as well as getting the two points in the Group 4 best and fairest [voting]. He had a big game but has to stay grounded.

"I'll back him against half in the comp. I was also impressed by young Zak Turnbull on the left edge. Him and Nick were two real standouts for us and have cemented themselves in the starting 13."

Schmiedel watched Dungowan play North Tamworth at Dungowan on Sunday and came away majorly impressed by the effort of Dungowan captain Brett Jarrett. The Bears won 30-22.

"Just the amount of work he did," Schmiedel said. "Going from the back-row to the front-row. I think his first five hit-ups he got the ball away four times

"They played well (Dungowan) and we will be giving them the respect they deserve."

Dungowan's tyro hooker Clay Frendin suffered what appeared to be a serious knee injury against the Bears, but it turned out to be a strained calf and he said he was "right by Tuesday".

He was having a great game against Norths until that injury late in the match, while Shannon Swan, Trent Taylor and Jason Allwood all had good debuts for the Cowboys.

GUNNEDAH: 1 Dylan Lake, 2 Kye McDonald, 3 Aaron Donnelly, 4 Cain Eather, 5 Dylan O'Brien, 6 Reece Jaeger (capt), 7 Nick White, 8 Lincon Smith, 9 Liam Ireland, 10 Rory Harding, 11 Zak Turnbull, 12 Hayden Jaeger, 13 KC Edmonds, 14 Aiden Davis, 15 Jacko Brookman, 16 Paul Sharpley, 17 TBA. Coach - Mick Schmiedel.

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