MOREE produced a bit of a lethargic effort but did what they needed to against Gunnedah at Weebolla Oval on Saturday.
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The 35-nil win set up a blockbuster final-round clash with Narrabri for the minor premiership and the major semi-final hosting rights.
But it certainly wasn’t their finest performance.
“We toughed it out,” co-coach Simon Hall said.
“We weren’t really on top of them for any of the game.”
The Red Devils were a lot more willing than they were in the first round, he said, but he didn’t feel they (Bulls) were really switched on either.
“I think we had one eye on next week,” Hall said.
“The positives are we kept them to nil, and they tested our tryline.”
They also did control the ball well at times – at times though being the operative word.
“We didn’t work hard enough at the breakdown to win the ball when we had possession,” Hall said.
“And just made crucial errors at crucial times.”
That contributed to them being up only 14-nil at the break.
After some “harsh words” at the break they came out and played well for the first five minutes.
“Then we dropped back into the lethargic way we were playing in the first half,” Hall said.
Skipper Ben Colley was as usual among their best.
Alex Corlis and Adam O’Neile also had strong games.
Hall also made mention of Fraser Brown. He played over 60 minutes backing up from second grade, after second-rower Zach Mather was forced off with injury.
“He added that tightness we needed and was good in the lineout,” he said.
Red Devils co-coach Tim Walsh was a lot happier with his side’s efforts, commenting that if they played like they did in a number of other games they might be pushing for a top tier semi-final spot.
“They played really well,” he said.
“Our first half was the best footy we’ve played all year.”
“We really dug in and had a go.”
They were giving away a lot of size and that probably was a factor, but fitness more so.
When the Bulls made a break there was someone there in support to pass off to.
It wasn’t the same for them.
Walsh said the Bulls also probably took their chances better than they did.
On the plus side, their defence was a lot better, particularly in the backs.
Jamie Mitchell made a big difference there with his talk.
Halves partner Ben Maunder also impressed on debut at half-back, picking up the three points and players’ player.
Cameron Mitchell got the two, with Alistar Buchanan and Jarrod Murray, who played half a game of second grade and then a full game of first grade, sharing the one.