They currently sit in second spot on the ladder, behind the Gunnedah Bulldogs only on percentage.

Their most recent win came against a valiant Tamworth Swans side at Tamworth No. 1 Oval in a 10-16-76 to 5-12-42 victory.

It was a very tight game, the Swans leading by just five points at the first break before the game went into half time all tied up, despite the Swans having double the scoring shots

The game remained tight to start second half with the Saints slightly kicking away to lead by nine points at the end of the third before they were able to get away with a dominant final quarter.

"We were probably outplayed for the first three quarters," Saints coach Justin Pay said.

"Swans were more enthusiastic. They wanted to win the ball more. Thankfully our blokes came good after three-quarter time."

Both the Saints and Swans finished the game with more behinds than goals, but Pay said that came down to the defensive pressure applied by both sides.

"I think we kicked fairly accurately, up until the last quarter. We kicked 3-11 in the fourth in those regards," he said.

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Despite the slow start to the game, Pay was still pleased to see his side come away with the win.

"It was just good to edge out a tough win with our guys playing a long way from our best," he said.

"We had eight changes from the week before, a long way from full strength.

"It was a pretty gutsy win considering we didn't turn up switched on to start with, but it was good to see they turned it around and got the job done in the fourth quarter."

Still, Pay wants to ensure his side doesn't suffer from a slow start again.

"We've worked hard on that all season, to turn up switched on and it didn't happen on the weekend," Pay said.

"A lot of the talk at training will be, we've made that mistake and not to make that happen again."

Overall, Pay has been thrilled with the way his side has started the season, with their other two wins coming against a much improved Moree Suns outfit and close away win against the Nomads.

"We've had a tough time over at Armidale over the last five or six years so it's always good to get a win there," he said.

Key forward Michael Gould has also enjoyed a strong start to the year, currently the league's leading goal scorer with 13 goals.

They now face the Narrabri Eagles who are yet to register their first win this season.

"They're struggling for numbers so we don't know how strong they'll be. We're just making sure we turn up switched on and don't get a rude shock," Pay said.

Opening bounce is at 2pm at Leitch Oval on Saturday, May 18.