Tim McDermott has been a towering presence in the lineout for Gunnedah this season, providing an assured set of hands on the Red Devils throw and making a nuisance of himself on the opposition's lineout.
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Against Quirindi last week, he would have either stolen or disrupted a handful of the Lions' throws.
"I love getting up in the lineout," he said
"One of the things I pride myself on is getting up in the lineout and disrupting their ball and keeping our ball clean."
"I really try to be first every time."
His work in the lineout isn't the only string to McDermott's bow.
Against Pirates two weeks ago the second rower also took over the kicking duties.
It is something McDermott said he has always liked, and done as a fill in when called upon.
With the similarity of position that has invariably led to a few jokes in reference to another goal-kicking second rower - John Eales, the man who memorably kicked the Wallabies to Bledisloe Cup glory in 2000.
McDermott said "you just cop them".
"Not many second rowers kick, so it's good to get out and have a kick when it comes up," he said.
One of several new faces at the club this season, the Sydney native has spent the last three seasons in the red and green of St Alberts. He moved to Gunnedah last November to take up a job as an environmental scientist at one of the local mines.
"Albies was good fun, there's a really big rugby culture up there, it's the same for Gunnedah," he said.
"It's been really good."
It is a bit of a different environment.
"You miss that a bit, playing with the blokes you live with, but Gunnedah's got a good culture and I'm enjoying my time here."
The Red Devils have won their last two after blowing a big half-time lead in their season opener against Narrabri and then being pipped at the post by Inverell.
"The first two games were a bit tough but I think we're starting to get a hold of it now," McDermott said.
"We had a good win over Pirates last week and then here (Quirindi) today."
The Red Devils forwards have been at the forefront of both of those and building into a formidable unit.
"The scrum's really good and the lineout is getting there so that's a good basis to be really strong this season," he said.
"We've got two tough games in Moree and Walcha coming up so I guess we'll see how we're going there."
Starting at home on Saturday with the unbeaten Bulls, it is a potentially season-defining couple of weeks for the Red Devils, who currently sit fourth.
McDermott said discipline will be a key against the Bulls.
"We gave away too many penalties today (against Quirindi)," he said.
They were virtually camped in their half for the first 20 minutes of the game as a consequence of their illdiscipline.
He also spoke about making their first up tackles.
"Cutting them low to start with and then when they make errors we've got to capitalise," he said.
McDermott was one of the Red Devils best in the 48-25 win over the Lions and was also a strong performer against Pirates.
"Tim reads the lineout well," coach Dan Martin said.
"He's a good young fella with great athleticism but he's still learning his craft and he'll keep on getting better as the year goes on."
