A top-of-the-table breakdown: Lessons learned from the Boars-Magpies clash

The Boars came away with another emphatic 50-22 victory to claim their seventh-straight win. But what else did we learn from the game?

This week, the Leader spoke to both side's captains about the outcome, and what it means for each going forward in the competition.

Here is what they had to say.

Moree Boars captain-coach, Mick Watton: Other than the leaked points against Kooty, the defensive efforts that we've been working on quite a lot at training has been a work in progress.

I feel like we turned a corner on the weekend against Werris Creek. We defended really well. The last eight or nine minutes, I think we let in two soft tries, but other than that, everyone is comfortable in what role they're playing defensively.

Werris Creek Magpies captain, Cody Tickle: We took a few things away for ourselves.

We had a few injuries for ourselves, so that gave a few blokes opportunities who took it with both hands. That was pleasing to see. The scoreline wasn't all that pleasing, but we took some positives out of the game.

MW: I think we're playing a whole different brand of footy this year. Last year, I feel like we were trying to put teams away after 20 - and it was sort of our undoing.

This year, we're going set-for-set with teams, playing the long game, and utilising our strengths deep in the back end of halves. And that first 20 minutes after half time on the weekend, we blew Werris Creek off the park.

CT: They moved the ball side to side very well, and continued to do it for the duration of the game.

They were able to move our middles side to side and wear them out, and they were able to sustain it. It was the difference of the game in my opinion.

Moree Boars next five rounds: Boggabri (in Boggabri), bye, Dungowan (in Moree), North Tamworth (in Moree), Gunnedah (in Gunnedah).

Watton's say: We haven't really looked any further than three weeks ahead. After this weekend's game, we'll look at it and set some new goals as a team.

Boggabri will probably be one of the toughest games of the year, because they love playing at Boggabri. We've got a small break there, and then we've got another three hard weeks leading into the second round.

But we're not looking too far ahead. Last year we had too many blokes doing that, and you can get soft in your approach.

Werris Creek Magpies next five rounds: Dungowan (Werris Creek), North Tamworth (in Tamworth), Werris Creek (in Werris Creek), Narrabri (in Werris Creek), Wee Waa (in Wee Waa).

Tickle's say: We're pretty excited, the next two games will be pretty big. That'll take us to the halfway point of the year, so the next three weeks (with the long weekend in between) are definitely our focus.

Dungowan this weekend, hopefully we can get them on the back foot at home. Then we go to Norths, and hopefully by then we'll have a few of our players back.

MW: Adrian Smith had an ankle injury, I don't know the exact diagnosis yet. Other than that, everyone else seems to be battling through okay.

CT: We ended up playing the last period of the game with no bench.

Kieran Williams [ankle injury], Charlie Parsons [pec injury], and Dave Murnane [rib injury] are out ... Kieran's been a big leader, he was coming back from an ankle injury and reinjured it, so he'll be a big loss.

MW: It won't look too different. We have a few different scenarios in play just in case we have some injuries that may disrupt the team.

Lachie McGrady will play fullback on the weekend, and he's a natural runner, elusive, and he's smart so he'll slot in for Adrian and it won't change the way we play.

Chris Vidler also comes back this week, and I'm away for work commitments ... so that gives Steve McIntosh another opportunity to step up and play that role.

CT: No really big changes. We get a few blokes back this weekend, so they'll slot back into their normal spots.

CT: Limit the football you give them, and you have to be very 'on' defensively.

They'll attack from anywhere on the park, and they've got a lot of talent in the side. They can attack from anywhere on the park, and they do back themselves. So you have to be good defensively and be prepared to play for the full 80, because if you're up by 14 with five to go, it doesn't mean you're home.

You have to be able to defend and limit the footy they have.