The Bulls faced plenty of changes due to the impact of COVID-19 last season but McBeath has been a familiar presence in the side.

Southcity missed finals for the first time in a decade in an eventual 2020, but now find themselves in second place on the ladder to start the back half of the season.

However after a couple of slip ups, with losses to Tumut and Gundagai in the space of three weeks, the young lock is confident they are heading in the right direction ahead of a clash with Abury at Greenfield Park on Sunday.

"It's been really good," McBeath said.

"We started well and did have a couple of games in the middle where we lost a little bit of form but I think we're starting to get it back.

"It was just the little area we needed to work on so hopefully we can finish the year well."

McBeath believes better ball control has been the big key to helping them turn things back around.

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There are plenty of familiar faces in Southcity 's starting pack but only two played with the club last season.

It is part of the reason why Bulls captain-coach Nathan Rose wanted to give McBeath more responsibility this season.

He's been pleased with how he's handled it so far.

"He's been good and is very consistent," Rose said.

"He's taken a bit more of a leadership role through the middle and it has been good for us.

"I'm sure he will keep doing it throughout the year."

It's a role that sits well with the workhorse lock as well.

"I've known Nathan for a fair while now and he's given me a leader's role now that I've been in first grade for a couple of years," McBeath said.

"He's given me the chance to step up a bit which I'm enjoying."

Southcity took a 62-12 win over Albury at Harris Park to start their campaign this season.

The Thunder sit in seventh after their poor start to the season however the Bulls are bracing for a much bigger test on the Border this time around.

"Going down there makes it a bigger challenge and I think they've had a few good games since we beat them in round one," McBeath said.

"They beat Gundagai down there so we definitely can't take them easy."

The Bulls head into the clash unchanged following their 12-0 win over Temora last Sunday.

They are almost at full strength with Country representative Cody Hodge, who is expected back towards the end of the season, their only sidelined player.