Tamworth MP Kevin Anderson won every booth in the electorate, Northern Tablelands MP Adam Marshall had the biggest margin in the state with 74.3 per cent of the first preference vote, while Upper Hunter MP Michael Johnsen held on by the skin of his teeth. Further afield, it wasn't so pretty, with the Nationals losing two seats to the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party - Barwon and Murray - while suffering double-digit swings in seats traditionally considered party strongholds.

The Nationals have comfortably held Barwon for 70 years; however, they saw an 18.9 per cent swing against them, which many put down to an unsatisfactory response to the drought. It was a similar story for the Nationals in Murray, where a 7.5 swing against the party was enough to see the seat change hands.

The Nationals lost Orange to the SFF in the 2016 by-election. At the time, many put the loss down as a one-off, with residents casting a protest vote in anger at the government's treatment of the greyhound industry.

However, at the weekend, Shooters MP Philip Donato reaped 50 per cent of the first-preference vote and increased his margin by 14.6 per cent, to the direct detriment of the Nationals, with the party seeing a swing 14.6 per cent against it.

Wagga Wagga has been a Liberal seat since 1957, but the party decided to bow out after its poor performance in the 2018 by-election and give their Coalition partners a go after. However, the seat was retained by independent Joe McGirr, and the Coalition's vote continued to erode.

Dubbo will come down to the wire - as of Monday afternoon, the Nationals were just more than 1 per cent ahead of the SFF on preferences, with 18 per cent of the vote still to be counted. Either way, the electorate made a 20 per cent swing against the Nationals and will be regarded as marginal next time around. The results will serve as a timely reminder for the federal Nationals, with an election predicted to take place in May.