![Gunnedah backrower Nick Lyons takes on the Narrabri defence during their big win on Saturday. Picture Sarah Stewart Gunnedah backrower Nick Lyons takes on the Narrabri defence during their big win on Saturday. Picture Sarah Stewart](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/ingYyB85ps4jmG9t8mfsHP/4a69cf5d-9d28-459b-97e8-511ba11610ba.jpg/r128_86_1331_838_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Gunnedah coach Dan Martin is preparing for some selection headaches over the coming weeks as a few familiar faces start to trickle back in.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Tim McDermott played his first minutes since his horrific ankle injury during last year's grand final on Saturday, coming off the bench in second grade's loss to Narrabri.
Marcus Hayne also saw some time off the bench in both grades, coming on early in the second half at outside centre for first grade for DJ Morrison after he came off with "a shoulder complaint".
"Hopefully there's nothing too major," Martin said.
"He'll go for scans early in the week."
It was about the only negative from what was a big statement from the Red Devils as they thrashed defending premiers Narrabri 42-12 to finish the first round undefeated.
Winger Emori Waqavulagi was at his electric best with three tries as they piled on 42 unanswered points in the first half in what Martin acknowledged was their best performance of the season, at least defensively.
"That's (defence) what created the opportunities for our outside backs," he said.
They really muscled up and even held the Blue Boars out for a few minutes with a two player disadvantage and several one man down.
Martin didn't express too much concern about their inability to score any points in the second half.
He did make a few changes in the second half, the big lead giving him the luxury of bringing off a few players like Waqavulagi, which he did about five minutes into the second half.
There was also a referee change at half-time, due to injury, which they didn't quite adapt to.
The first time they'd faced the Blue Boars since the grand final, Martin had no doubt that did serve as some extra motivation for them but was also circumspect about the result. As he bluntly put it: they "haven't won anything".
"Yes there was probably a little bit more feeling but that (win) still doesn't get us anywhere near a grand final," he said.
"Yeah we're undefeated but we've still got that many games to go again."
"There's still a lot of work to do."
Both performance wise, and for him and assistant coach Peter Burke.
As they discussed on the way home on Saturday night, they still don't know what their "best 15 is".
"There's people that are putting their hands up like Linc Stewart and Tommy McGowan who keep turning up week on week and just doing what we ask them to do," he said.
"So it makes our job more challenging, which is good."
As far as McDermott they don't really have a timeline. Martin said he'll probably stay in second grade until they can "see big minutes out of him" and "see how he goes".
The win has the Red Devils sitting five points clear of second-placed Pirates heading into the second round.
The women are also on top after half-back Emmy Barr scooped up the ball from a scrum win against the feed on their line to dive over and steal the win win 10-7.