Group 4: North Tamworth to take on Kootingal Roosters at home

The fourth-versus-fifth clash could prove definitive in terms of the Bears' position on the ladder and their chance at making finals.

But, veteran forward Ben Jarvis said, the players are only focused on fixing the issues that have caused their early-season slump.

"This year, we've worried about the results a bit too much, I think," Jarvis said.

"And there's a few key effort areas that we've let go a bit. So our focus is getting the things that we're doing wrong out of our game, and I think the results will work themselves out if we rectify those issues."

The visitors at Jack Woolaston Oval on Saturday will come into the first grade encounter with four wins and two losses from their last six games, the most recent of which was a highly competitive defeat to the still-unbeaten Moree Boars in round eight.

Given the way that the Roosters have gradually built into the season after early losses, Jarvis expects a "very hard game".

"They had a few key personnel out [against Moree], Logan Howard was out of that game, and Jordan [Sharpe] pulled out at the warm-up," he said.

"So they're two big outs for them in that game, and they still stuck it to Moree. We're expecting one of the hardest games of the year so far. And it'll show us where we're at in terms of the rest of the season."

The Bears are no strangers to injury issues of their own, and have consistently been without as many as five of their starting first grade lineup throughout the year.

By his own admission, Jarvis is "50-50" to play this Saturday thanks to a hamstring complaint, with Jake Ball also uncertain to start.

But the competition-wide bye over the long weekend will have done the Bears good, as a number of their hurting bodies will have relished the extra recovery time.

This weekend will also mark North Tamworth's Ladies Day, which will feature a number of fundraising initiatives with the proceeds to go towards breast cancer awareness.

"North Tamworth Bears would like to express our appreciation to all the great ladies at our club," the Bears wrote in a Facebook post.

"From the hard working ladies on our committee, the wives and partners of our men's teams, the ladies who come and support our teams every week, our ladies from our great sponsors and lastly to our amazing Ladies League Tag side who train hard every week and play even better on game day. You all are greatly appreciated."

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