Moree Bulls could miss out on making the finals altogether, following the upset of the season on Saturday which saw the former ladder leaders go down to the Scone Brumbies.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
While both sides scored five tries each, it was the boot of Brumbies five-eighth Jack Thomas and the Bulls' ill-discipline and poor mid-field defence which proved the difference at Scone on Saturday, with the home side coming away with a 43-33 victory.
"It was a terrible day; the weather was nice and that was about the only thing that was good," Bulls first grade co-coach Mick Grant said.
"It was the same problem we've had over the last couple of weeks - our defence in the middle was dreadful.
"The last three games, we've scored the majority of our points in those last 10 minutes. You can't play catch-up footy."
It was the Bulls' third loss in three weeks, having gone down to Walcha and Gunnedah previously, which sees them drop to third place on the first grade ladder, behind arch-rivals Narrabri Blue Boars who pipped a strong Pirates side on Saturday.
READ MORE:
Although the Bulls had a few injuries on Saturday, Grant said the side they took over should have easily defeated Scone, and not let them score 40 points.
"Coming up against a side like Scone and letting them put on so many points and lose to them is very disappointing," he said.
"We have so much talent, but we just can't get it right at the moment. The side we are picking, based on their performances in the past, should be blowing every other team out of the park."
As a result, the Bulls coaches will be having some tough conversations over the next two weeks to determine who deserves to stay in the side ahead of their make or break match against Narrabri in a fortnight.
"Half the guys really want to play finals and it seems like the other half don't," Grant said.
"Us as coaches need to look at individual performances and make our selections based on those performances over the past few weeks. Certain people are not giving it their all, or they're trying too hard and are too worried about making a mistake that they're not putting themselves in a position to make a tackle.
"We can't drop a game like that against Scone and have no consequences. We've got to look at who's not carrying their weight and who really deserves to be in that side."
With a bye this weekend, the Narrabri clash is the Bulls' final match of the home and away season before finals, and based on the weekend's results - which also saw Gunnedah beat Walcha 24-nil - the race to the finish could be anyone's game.
The only certainty at this stage is that Walcha (currently on 68 points at the top of the table) will finish minor premiers, but those three remaining finals spots are hotly contested by Narrabri (on 63 points), Moree (61 points), Gunnedah (59) and Pirates (58) and will all come down to the next two weeks of football.
"The top five are very close," Grant said.
"Any of those sides, if they drop a game, they could miss out on finals.
"If we drop the game against Narrabri, we could miss out on finals footy altogether. We deserve to play finals, but if we're going to keep playing the way we have been, we don't deserve to be there.
"We're fortunate with the bye we'll get five points, although at the moment we don't even deserve five points."
Grant said the bye this weekend is probably a good thing, as it will give them time to "sit back and reflect on the last month of footy" and prepare as best they can for the game against Narrabri, which will be tough as both teams will be fighting for second place.
The Bulls hope to see a large Moree contingent at Narrabri's Dangar Park on Saturday, August 17 to help get them over the line.
"We're hoping to get a big crowd down there at Narrabri and cement that second position with a bonus point," he said.
