Central North Rugby Round 8: Inverell flying high after hammering Moree 55-12

The Highlanders did that and more, recording what is believed to be their biggest ever win over the Bulls.

Solidifying their finals credentials, the Highlanders thrashed the Bulls 55-12.

"After our last disappointing loss to Narrabri at home (they were pipped in the final minutes) at home and after having the bye we really wanted to come out and redeem ourselves and show our supporters the game against Narrabri was just a hiccup," Highlanders coach Colin Mayes said.

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It did take them a little while to find their rhythm.

They were guilty of pushing the play a bit early on and weren't switched on in defence. Off the back of that the Bulls led 12-5 at one stage.

But the players addressed that, and from there it was all the Highlanders.

"Once we started to show a little bit more patience and started to probe into areas we were able to score," Mayes said.

That patience is something they have been working on, he said.

The defensive effort was another pleasing aspect, holding the Bulls scoreless for probably 60 minutes.

Mayes struggled to single any players out to the point that he gave the whole team points, but did make special mention of Harry King, who played the whole game in both second and first grade after one of first graders was a late withdrawal.

"He showed his versatility," he said.

"He played first-five (five-eighth) in reggies and played centre in first grade".

Seru Pepili Momo also played big minutes in first grade backing up from second grade.

In general Mayes thought the bench deserved a big wrap. They had a lot of injuries during the game but didn't lose anything with the replacements.

The win keeps the Highlanders equal pegging on points with Pirates, who shade them for fourth on bonus points and they face this weekend in Tamworth.

The start of a tough run with Gunnedah and Walcha to start the second round, Mayes said they took a lot of confidence away from Saturday.

"That was spoken about during the week, we wanted to have a good game to build confidence for next week," he said.

Narrabri now lead the competition after accounting for Gunnedah 36-7. Walcha also leapfrogged the Red Devils to move into second courtesy of a 74-5 demolition of Quirindi.

In the other game Scone beat Barraba 34-15 to post their first win of the season.

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