Tamworth Thunderbolts take lessons out of 'hard' night at home

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But both sides had markedly different takes on their games against the Coffs Harbour Suns.

The women got underway from 4pm, and though competitive, they could not recover from a 20-point deficit they conceded early in the game, going down 87-65.

"We knew it was going to be a hard game," Tamworth women's co-captain, Lily Darcy, said.

"They caught us under the ring, and we knew they were going to do it. In the end, we got a really good system going, but we figured it out too late in the game."

While the Suns did make the most of a height advantage over many of the Tamworth players, Darcy said it was also their experience which made them difficult to overcome.

"They've all played together for so long, whereas our team are all very new," she said.

"So there was definitely a divide in experience, but we're happy with that [effort]. They just played better on the day."

The men, meanwhile, fought valiantly in the first half, but injuries and absences took their toll on the depleted Thunderbolts' squad as Coffs broke away in the third and fourth quarters.

Men's captain Izack Fuller said the squad was "a bit fatigued" due to its lack of numbers.

With their finals chances all but ended, the Thunderbolts will now look to begin building towards 2023.

"It's about building the program and looking towards next year," Fuller said.

"Obviously we'll do our best in each game and playing it play-by-play, but after that we'll build towards next year and hopefully get a youth league and a state league team."

Saturday's fixtures were the last time the Thunderbolts will play at home this season.

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