The stage was set for the Red Devils to open their season with a win. It was a balmy autumn Saturday, a generous home crowd was on hand and a 19-5 halftime lead over Narrabri had been established.
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The problem was someone forgot to hand the script to Narrabri.
The confidence that Gunnedah must have felt heading into the break, after scoring three first-half tries to one, was brutally snatched away from them as the Blue Boars crossed for four unanswered second-half tries.
Gunnedah skipper Zac Newcombe said "definitely", without hesitation, when asked if the Red Devils should have won the match. However, he added that you could not win "without the ball" - a reference to Narrabri's second-half dominance.
"We gave them a lot of cheap ball - definitely lost it in prime positions," Newcombe said. "We had plenty of opportunities. It was just [a lack of] possession in the end, and one-up tackles: we were starting to get a bit sloppy there."
Newcombe said Gunnedah had "a lot of new combinations", and "a lot of them started really well".
"But in the second half it's hard to keep that going without the ball, essentially," he said. "Set pieces in the first half were excellent; [in the] second half it definitely dropped off.
"Like, our scrums in the first half were very dominate, and clean ball: we were getting a lot more clean ball in the first half. As the game went on we lost it, and it just went downhill from there."
Newcombe labelled the Blue Boars a "quick and mobile" outfit - top-four material.
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Gunnedah jumped to an early 12-0 lead through tries to second-rower Tim McDermott, a close-range effort from a ruck, and Newcombe, who split Narrabri's left-side defence and scored under the posts.
The visitors then struck back with a try to winger Liam Schwager, before Gunnedah winger Kih McDonald scored a long-range intercept try with just over 29 minutes left in the first half. No.11 Oscar Hunt converted - 19-5.
Two minutes after the break, Narrabri second-rower Connor Parkes crashed over from close range, after being first receiver following a tryline ruck. Fullback Michael Cain converted - 19-12.
In the 53rd minute, Cain scored in the left-hand corner - finishing off a second-phase play following a Narrabri lineout win 10 metres out from Gunnedah's tryline, on the opposite side of the field.
Not long after that, Narrabri got an overlap about 35m out from Gunnedah's tryline and Schwager posted his second try, touching down under the uprights. Cain converted - 24-19.
In the 63rd minute, the Blue Boars crossed again when No.10 Jydon Hill put prop Will Turner into a gaping hole close to Gunnedah's tryline.
Gunnedah got a consolation try to No.8 Nimo Navatu in the 73rd minute.