Bears v Bulldogs: Tamworth beat Gunnedah 38-10 | Group 4

Fijian prop Tevita Kalou was promoted to the Bears' front-row for the Saturday match and he didn't disappoint new coach Paul Boyce.

"Tevita was outstanding," Boyce said.

"He was very physical. We knew Gunnedah were going to be very physical and we needed to match that that. We did that, and in particular Tevita."

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Boyce said it was a also "a really solid team effort".

"Everyone did their job," he said. "We put pressure on Gunnedah early on and kept it up."

Boyce said his side had a simple match plan in the first half before "opening up" in the second half.

His disciplined side knew how well Gunnedah turned up for big days (it was Gunnedah's Old Boys Day) and braced themselves for a tough encounter in wet conditions.

"We also had four debutants in first grade and they all went well," Boyce said.

"Yirripi (Jaffer-Williams) was extremely good on the wing, Josh Sweeney came off the bench and did his job, Lachlan Etheridge was good and Jake Vost played the last 15 minutes or so and was good too.

"It was good to give him (Vost] a taste of first grade football."

The mentor also thought Kobe Bone was "very solid".

"He just worked the whole 80 minutes, really energetic," he said.

"Our stand-in five-eighth, Ethan Collins, was outstanding. He did everything we wanted him to do and Mitch (Sheridan) got the team around the park."

Sheridan's versatility is a huge benefit to the Bears. He was outstanding for the Greater Northern Tigers in the back-row during their recent Country Championships semi-final loss and excels wherever he plays.

Elsewhere on Saturday, the Blues beat the Cowboys 32-24 at Dungowan and the Boars downed the Roos 36-16 at Moree.

NORTH TAMWORTH 40 (Amachai Roberts 2, Livinai Tuicakau 2, Kobe Bone 2, Misaele Vakacegau, Ben Jarvis tries; Adrian Graham 3 goals) d GUNNEDAH 10 (Mitch Fletcher, Dylan Lake tries; Dylan O'Brien goal) Best and fairest points: 3 Kobe Bone (NT), 2 Dylan O'Brien (G), 1 Liam Ball (NT).

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