I'm not up to those episodes yet but I certainly think that by the time Bea Smith came to be transferred to Barnhurst the character had already begun to assume a lesser importance anyway having been knocked sideways by the seminal character of the Freak played by the legendary Maggie Kirkpatrick.
And her exit also paved the way for the introduction of some new characters to the series which wasn't necessarily a bad thing as I have always regarded the 2nd half of the serial as being superior to the first half, some of which was a little turgid.
And in terms of Wentworth top dogs I have always regarded the character of Myra Desmond as being at least on a par with that of Bea Smith.