The Tonga team spent three months training together before their tour of New Zealand and before playing Northland, they had a hit out against Auckland last week. Northland only had one team training.
Ferris was proud of the Northland team which showed plenty of character, he said.
"There's still a lot of areas we need to develop, such as our tactical decisions and strength and conditioning, but it was pleasing overall."
Kaitaia College inside back Conor Whitley-Sua was impressive, as was Kerikeri High School prop Steven Lavakeiaho.
These players had only just come on to Ferris' radar, and he said it had been hard in the past to keep track of the up-and-coming young talent. However, in January Northland Academy manager Peter Nock, trainer Nick Collins and Ferris will embark on a new development programme recently given the thumbs-up from the Northland Rugby Union board.
The trio will regularly travel to the surrounding areas in Northland and the Far North - Kaitaia, Dargaville and the Bay of Islands - to deliver individual performance plans and training programmes to about 15 players from each subunion, aged from 14 to 22.
Ferris and the NRU team adapted the High Performance Unit satellite programme to suit the large Northland province and limited resources.
"By taking the programme to these areas, we are making sure players who can't necessarily make it to Whangarei several times a week for training are getting the development they need," the coach said.
Northland have typically lost quality players aged between 18-20, and hopefully by providing the resources to show these athletes what is required of them to reach ITM Cup level, they will remain in the Northland system, Ferris says.
