Coach Phil Adamson said this after watching his side go down to Taree City at the Jack Neal Oval. Taree won 32-16 after the Hawks led 10-8 at halftime.

"Everything has been good - training's been good and the attitude has been good, but we're just not doing it on the field,'' Adamson said.

The Hawks have now suffered three consecutive losses.

Adamson said there were some positives to emerge from the clash against the Bulls.

"Luke Ross got through a full game and I thought he was one of our best, but he just didn't see enough ball. We had opportunities on the edges but we just didn't take them,'' he said.

He said captain and front rower Matt Kirkland aggravated a leg injury last week at training but Adamson hopes he'll be fit for the clash against the Pirates.

"And we should have Keda Moylan back as well,'' he added.

Moylan also watched from the sideline because of a shoulder injury.

The Hawks had a welter of possession in the first half yet only led by the two points at the turnaround. However, Adamson said they should have carried on from there.

"We were disappointing in the second half, we just didn't control the ball and we gave away a heap of easy penalties,'' he said.

"Taree got a roll-on and we weren't able to come back from there.

"We tried Riley (Glover) out at five-eighth today after Keda pulled out with injury, but we lost a lot of spark out of dummy half, so we shifted him back to hooker in the second half.

"Taree came here with a good game plan and they slowed things down. Now we have to go back to the drawing board this week,'' Adamson said.

TAREE City gets the opportunity to show their Group Three Rugby League premiership credentials on Satruday against Wingham at Wingham, coach Todd Bridge said.

He was speaking after the Bulls accounted for Forster-Tuncurry 32-16 in the match at the Jack Neal Oval to record their second win in four games. Both victories have been at home.

But the Tigers will be a tough proposition, especially at Wingham, Bridge agreed

"Wingham at Wingham is one of the hardest games along with Port at Port,'' he said.

"We're looking forward to it - Wingham had a good win over Macleay this week. So we'll just prepare for that and hopefully we'll turn up like we did today with a good attitude.''

Bridge said a strong second half from the Bulls was set up by a great defensive effort in the first half. Despite defending for much of the opening 40 minutes the Bulls only trailed 10-8 at the break and they took control of the contest in the second stanza.

"We defended for almost all the first 20 minutes of the game,'' he said.

"They boys have been defending pretty well most weeks. There were a few lapses here and there, but other than that it was good.

"It was a very pleasing second half. We spoke at halftime about the need to complete more and push up together in twos and we did that.''

Bridge said burly Rob Mason is making a big difference when he is introduced into the game.

"I've spoken to him about it - I'd rather use him off the bench because he makes that impact. He knows what lines to run and knows who to pick out.

"Rob was enormous for us today. Oscar Carey gets through a mountain of work each week and I thought our halves Dean (Mills) and Toby (De Stefano) really controlled the game.

"A few times they kicked a bit earlier than I would have liked but they still took it on their back to carry the team around, which is good.''

Bridge also praised the performance of underrated lock Thomas Paulson, who played one of his best games in first grade.

"Thomas was big today,'' Bridge said.

"He doesn't do anything fancy, but he carts the ball up and he makes his tackles. That was the best game I've seen him play.''

Bridge could play some part of the game against Wingham next week after watching Taree's last three matches from the sideline.

"At this stage I think I will. But I'll see how the boys pull up at training on Tuesday and whether they want me to play or not.

His cousins, Tim and Matt Bridge are both playing for the Tigers, adding some spice to the encounter.

"Tim's back there now and I like putting a bit of bait into him,'' he laughed.

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