That question was, at least partially, answered on Saturday in the course of their 36-16 win over the Dungowan Cowboys.

But this year's motivation, captain-coach Mick Watton said, was not fuelled by thoughts of avenging their 2023 grand final defeat. In fact, the team "never spoke about it, really", he said.

"We talked about some really key moments that probably affected us last year, around discipline, completing our sets, and staying in the grind a little bit," Watton said.

In the first half, the game looked set to be an entertaining back-and-forth affair at Gunnedah's Kitchener Oval.

Dungowan opened the scoring in the first minute, before Moree hit back with four tries in 15 minutes. The Cowboys, however, didn't let their opponents completely control the momentum and scored twice more to restrict the margin to eight points at half time.

That, however, is where Moree's penchant for strong second halves kicked in.

The Boars scored three more times in the final term, and kept Dungowan scoreless.

"The 16 points they scored in that game, they scored in the first half, and no points in the second half," Watton said.

"So that's a great positive for us. We scored some really great tries, and we had some really good frameworks around the shape this year, so that was the pleasing aspect of it."

While the Group 4 veteran was pleased with their win, it was by no means perfect.

Tempers flared at times, both teams turned the ball over regularly, and Watton was not pleased to have conceded three tries.

"There's a lot to work on," he said.

"Letting in 16 points in the first round wasn't good from our standard. We set high defensive standards ... [the Cowboys] were a great side today. They competed well."

He was, however, particularly happy with the efforts of their new recruits.

Both Lachlan McGrady and Jack Durheim came in for post-game praise from Watton, as did returning dangerman Brenton Cochrane.

"[Cochrane's] a competitor, and he's been like that for as long as I've known him," he said.

"He's a great asset to our team for sure."

The Boars and Cowboys clashed in the third of four first grade matches to take place in Gunnedah on Saturday.

It was a new initiative from Group 4, which saw all round one games scheduled for the same ground to create a marquee fixture for the fans to enjoy. And, as it turned out, Watton was a fan of the idea as well.

"It generated a bit of fun, you get to have a look at the other teams, I think the crowd's been great, everyone's enjoyed it," he said.

"I think it's a great concept."