THE North Tamworth Bears have begun their Group 4 premiership defence in emphatic style with a 54-22 win over the Werris Creek Magpies.
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The Bears lead for the majority of Saturday's clash, but made their statement on the game in the second half, running out 32-point winners.
Playing-coach Scott Blanch was among the Bears' better performers scoring two tries of his own in the second half.
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Despite the win, Blanch told the Leader his side still had "work to do" this season.
"I was a little bit disappointed with our defence in the first half," Blanch said.
"We kept them to six points in the second half so I am pretty with that.
"We were a bit sluggish at the start but after we blew the cobwebs out we were pretty right after that."
The Bears experienced hands helped lead the team's victory, with returning veterans Brock Wadwell and Josh Schmeidel impressing during the game.
"Josh was massive for us today [Saturday]," Blanch said.
"He showed that he is very experienced and took the ball forward for us when we needed it.
"All of our returning guys really impressed me.
"Andrew Moodie was really good with ball in hand and you know what you're going to get with Brock."
Blanch said his side would now focus on making improvements ahead of their round two clash against Dungowan.
"While it was a good win, my message this week at training will be that we have plenty of work to do," he said.
"With how tight the competition will be this season, we can't afford to start sluggishly, so we will be looking to work on that."
Despite the loss, Magpies coach Ron Dellar said there were some positives for his side to take out of the game.
"They were too tough and strong for us on the day," Dellar said.
"We did have a few guys stand up for us, which is pleasing.
"However, we will have a lot to work on, but the upside is it is only round one."
Dellar said his side would need to address its ruck play ahead of their round two clash against Narrabri.
"We try and win the ruck every time but at half-time today [Saturday], our ruck play was at about 10 per cent, while North Tamworth's was at about 100 per cent," he said.
"I think we will make a few positional changes, but North Tamworth are the benchmark and now we know what we need to improve on.
"They are the team you measure yourself against and now this week, we will work on our ruck play and playing more direct because when we do we can be dangerous."