Central North’s Seniors produced some of their best rugby in three years but will have to fight their way back into the Caldwell Cup after going down to Central West in their Country Championships play-off on Sunday.
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A 48-3 loss to the Blue Bulls saw the Kookaburras lose their place in the top tier.
It followed a 55-17 loss to Illawarra on Saturday that was far from the drubbing the scoreline suggests.
“Yesterday was outstanding,” Kookaburras co-coach Hunter Harley said.
“The first 40 was the best footy we’ve played in Tom (Cullen) and my time.”
Down 12-nil they fought back to to lead the defending champions 17-12 at half-time, and were very much in the ascendancy.
“We were winning the breakdown and we had a great rotation happening with our front row, which meant we were able to keep up with the pace of the game.”
But it all fell apart in the second half, with too many dropped balls, which the Illawarriors turned into points.
After their efforts on Saturday, Harley said it was hard to get up for Sunday’s game, and their attitude probably wasn’t quite right.
“It was really sad because had our boys been able to turn it around like they did last year it would have been justice for the 40 minutes we put in yesterday,” he said.
The news wasn’t much better for the Kookaburras women who lost their semi-final to eventual champions Central West 31-5, while the Colts lost their play-off game to Mid North Coast 29-7. New England didn’t fare any better.
