"We only had 30 per cent of the ball and just lived on turnovers and penalties [yet still managed to win comfortably]."
Williamson noted the appearance of ITM Cup coaches Derren Witcombe and George Konia on the sidelines, adding it was positive to see the Taniwha coaches scouting local players.
"I was standing there and had the new Northland coach sitting there watching, [Konia even] came along and started asking about some of the players. Hopefully a few of them [Rodney/Northern Wairoa players] make the team so we can get a few people coming over from Dargaville to watch the [Northland ITM Cup] games."
Williamson said players who impressed him, and hopefully Witcombe and co, were forwards Matt Matich and Will Fotofili, who produced some big hits before being subbed off to rest them ahead of today's club rugby matches.
Bay of Islands' coach Shaun Haynes gave credit to the victors, saying his side was beaten by a stronger outfit on this occasion.
"Their defence was solid and we just couldn't penetrate through in the first half," Haynes said.
"To be fair, they came out fitter and looked stronger and they shut us down in the first half.
"We had a few new recruits that were a bit light on experience in the backs but other than that they [Rodney/Northern Wairoa] played a pretty smart game, [and cashed in on a] couple of our errors which resulted in three tries at the start."
To win from here, the equation is simple for the defending champions - they must win and win well.
In the day's other match, Whangarei came out victors over Mangonui by 45-19.
However, while the scoreline may look flattering, coach Mark Seymour noted his side's win was far from champagne rugby.
"Mangonui were pretty competitive," Seymour said.
"Obviously our group of players are playing at a higher club level consistently, [but with only a] couple of trainings together was always going to take a while to gel."
Luckily for Whangarei's side, Fiji's Rupeni Caucaunibuca was out with a knee injury following last weekend's club rugby game for Awanui. Seymour said that while it meant his side had one less threat to worry about, it would have been good for players to test themselves against someone of Caucau's freakish abilities.
"People want to see players like that and people want to play against them.
"As a player you want to measure yourself against players who have been there, done that," Seymour said.
"It would have been interesting to see how he played and what sort of shape he was in though."
