MOREE conceded a numbers advantage to Gunnedah at Weebollabolla Oval on Saturday but it had little bearing as it hit the century and continued its charge to the finals.

The Bulls were forced to battle on with 14 men for almost three-quarters of the match after skipper and breakaway Ben Colley was red-carded for using an elbow, but they did so convincingly as the 108-6 scoreline shows.

Heath Riggs was again damaging through the centre, igniting the 16-try feast with four, while winger Aaron O’Neile ran over for three, wing partner Nathan Porter a double, and prop Klee Johnson a double.

“It was pretty good to get that (scoreline) with 14,” Bulls coach Liam McCormick said.

“We played pretty well, played some really good phase football.”

“We played a lot smarter football than we had been playing and really controlled it.”

That was what McCormick was looking for from the performance and, noting it an improvement again on the Walcha match, he felt they were a lot more consistent in their phases and controlling the play.

“There were a couple of times that they were a bit scrappy but they tightened it up and played phase football,” he said.

They were, as the scoreline suggests dominant in possession and territory terms, and they also enjoyed a dominance in the set pieces.

“Cottsy (Mark Cotter) went well in the lineouts and stole a lot of ball and we stole a few tight heads,” McCormick said.

It wasn’t all positive though, with the Bulls on the receiving end of the penalties, but McCormick was pleased with the way they dealt with that.

“We could have got caught up in the penalties but we didn’t,” he said.

“We adapted well to the adversity of being penalised.”

“They didn’t repeat too many.”

Five-eighth Linden McGrady also had a big influence, scoring a try and kicking 13 conversions, and was one of the Bulls’ best, along with Riggs.

“Riggsy ran really good lines,” McCormick said.

“And Beau (Lamond) at number eight had a strong game.”

They were the two picks in the zone best and fairest points, with Gunnedah’s point going to Riggs’s centre opponent Adam Bensch.

Matt Fitzgerald supplied their only points through two penalties.

In the other results for the round, Pirates were too strong for Walcha, recording a 29-8 win, Quirindi withstood a second-half Tamworth fightback for a 39-22 triumph and Narrabri ran out 67-7 winners over Barraba.