Not only did his team score five tries, they kept a clean sheet, conceded goals to several young players and suffered no injuries.
For Noble, who is in his second stint at the helm of the Bulls, his first start of the new season was very satisfying.
he said afterwards: “Like most teams, we have things to work on – it's only December – but I'm really happy and I'm giving it an 8 or 9 out of 10 overall. I would like to add points.
“This conveys some of the principles we have been working on over the five-week training block and I am happy with the work we have done.
“If you're looking for an 80-minute performance, the first 20 minutes were where I wanted them to be because physically I was very good and my connectivity was great.
And finally, the lads showed us the details, but I'm not one to get carried away after the game on December 22nd. ”
Noble had this to say about specific positives: “The main thing is that we made it through without any injuries, which is all you want. We have the talent to add to the team, so that bodes well.”
“We had a lot of dedicated people on the team, we had a lot of dedicated people coming into the team, and we looked physically and technically superior.
“One of our beliefs is defense, and to stay on the team we have to defend well, and our kicking game did well.
“But there's still a lot of work to do, including not giving penalties and finishing sets when fatigue sets in, so it's really important to keep both feet on the ground.”
“But if we can maintain the desire to improve, and I heard that from the players after the game, that can only bode well for us. So it's a good one with a lot of positive signs for us. It was day.”
“We also don’t do a lot of contact work in non-indoor training, which is completely different to a rugby league match.
“We didn't do much to get off the ground, so I'm especially happy that we didn't concede a goal.''
While the aforementioned lack of injuries pleased Noble, Cougars manager Jake Webster wasn't as lucky in that regard.
He lost Brandon Pickersgill and Josh Lyman to dislocated fingers, and former Bull's Elliott Cousins failed a head injury evaluation.
Waka Blake, Evon Scarr, Emmanuel Wein, Elliott Peposi and standout Alfie Leake all scored tries for the Bulls, while Joe Keyes, James Meadows and Sam Ackroyd each added goals.
The Cougars were a little unlucky not to get points on the board, as they were stopped twice from beyond the Bulls line and came close on at least one other occasion.
