Simone and Christa Smith reunited as Macleay Valley Mustangs beat Kendall

And while the defending premiers kept within sight of undefeated ladder-leaders Sawtell Panthers at the top of the table, it was the reunion of the Smith siblings at Laurieton Oval that created the highlight.

"Having my sister (Christa) out there was really good because it was her first game for us today after she moved back home," Simone said.

The Mustangs halfback even laid on a try for her sister in the closing stages of the four-tries-to-one triumph.

"She owes me one," she said.

"We've played plenty of stuff together from league to league tag to touch and she'll be a great asset for our team.

"I think we're building really nicely with a few new faces this year along with the girls from last year, but we're taking each day as it comes."

Simone admitted having Christa on the field helped take some pressure of her and allowed her to play her natural game.

In previous weeks the captain has been a little "hard on the girls to take a bit more initiative".

"This year the competition has grown a lot more and I said to the girls it's a lot more challenging each game and we're here to build on each game and challenge ourselves week to week," Simone said.

"Everyone got in and did their bit and it made everyone else's job pretty easy."

Macleay Valley have now had three victories this season - they have all been different - and seven days ago were pushed all the way by lowly Wauchope.

"You've always got the pressure being last year's winners, but I think it's also a good thing and it shows the girls what we're capable of and we've been there before," Simone said.

"We know what we've got to do and you've always got the positives, but like anything you've always got pressure. I try to keep my girls humble and make sure we turn up for every game we play."

There could be no doubting the Blues' ability to remain competitive throughout the fixture, but they were rarely able to mount any sustained pressure on the Mustangs line.

Captain Maddi Beauchamp acknowledged they never gave up.

"It was a good game and we knew it was going to be physical," she said.

"We were unlucky with the scoreboard today, but it's the third game of the year so we've got plenty to build on."

Beauchamp said their defensive effort was the main highlight where it took them until the final 90 seconds to post their first points.

"We ended up defending a lot and I think we were lucky to keep them to 20," she said.

"Defence is one of our strong points so pretty proud of the girls and that's what we kept them to. They're a class team - premiers from last year - so we knew we were up for a battle today."

Fullback Erin Gunton along with halves Thalia Simon and Natalie Smith were the Blues' best.

"All the girls stand up, but Erin Gunton our fullback, Tahlia and Nat our two halves drive us around the paddock and we've been a bit unlucky with injuries," she said.

"We've got four girls out with injuries at the moment from the first two games."

Kendall will have the bye next week before they take on Wauchope.

"We have a bit of time to look at this game and see where we can move to the next game," Beauchamp said.

"We beat them (Wauchope) in the first round so hopefully we can show back up and do it again in two weeks time."

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