Beaten 50-21 by the Blue Boars seven days earlier, they emphatically turned the tables, getting up 42-17.

"I was a bit shocked," he admitted.

"I didn't expect them to win that well."

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Speaking on Sunday from Coonabarabran where he was watching the Central North under-16s girls side he is coaching play Central West as a warm-up for the country/state championships, Barbara said he "couldn't fault" his side.

"I thought the girls really played well. They just wanted it a bit more," he said.

"And obviously to bounce back from last week was great. Everyone stood up and did their job."

Up 22-10 at half-time they dominated the third quarter to head into the final break 27 points ahead.

"At half-time we spoke about really wanting to turn the screws," Barbara said.

They did, producing some of their best football of the year in that third quarter.

They were "patient in attack" and "built pressure", dominated at the breakdown, transitioned well from attack to defence, and vica versa, and really crammed the Blue Boars for room.

"One of the things we spoke about was our line speed in defence, really trying to get off the line," Barbara said.

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"The line speed got better throughout the game.

"I think we started a bit flat, sat on our heels a bit. As the game progressed we really started getting off the line."

Their set pieces were also "really good".

His message to them through the week had been not to be too disheartened by what happened the previous weekend.

They were missing a few of their rep players, albeit as were the Blue Boars, and really struggled in the "very hot" conditions (it was 27/28 degrees out at Narrabri) with only eight players (even playing 7s that only left one sub).

"The other thing that came into play was it was tough conditions," he said.

"They'd had 90mls of rain during the week so it was wet underfoot."

Young gun Tomi Gavin was adjudged their best and fairest for Saturday.

"Just the way she tackled and she ran really well," Barbara said.

She also steered them around the field well.

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"Leilani (Tevaga) played really well in the forwards as did Erika (Maslen) and Rosie (Ferguson)," he continued.

Nicola Robinson also did some good things in defence.

Another big test looms this coming weekend in the form of competition leaders Gunnedah.

They had a 25-20 win over Barraba/Gwydir on Saturday with Chennelle Winsor and Lana Bottrell both crossing for two tries.

Coach Georgia Moore meanwhile led from the front for Quirindi with a double as they defeated Scone 34-nil to make it three-in-a-row.

TABLE: Gunnedah 26, Narrabri 25, Pirates 25, Quirindi 15, Barraba/Gwydir 13, Scone 10.

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