Sanimo Navatu was - ironically given the opposition - like a rampaging bull as he inspired what is becoming a trademark second half fightback from Gunnedah to earn a share of the points with Moree on Saturday.
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The two couldn’t be split after a second 40 minutes that had more twists and turns than a racetrack.
The Bulls had a penalty kick after the bell to snatch the win but it was unsuccessful, leaving the score 34-all.
It would have been somewhat ironic had they got home on the back of a penalty, with penalties one of the reasons they found themselves trying to hang on after leading 17-nil midway through the first half and having the better of the play.
But like they did in their first round encounter, the Red Devils clawed their way back into the contest.
Trailing by 10 at half-time, they came out firing in the second half and through Matt Pardesi trimmed the Bulls lead back to three.
Not long after they missed a chance to level. But they managed to get the ball back and with Pardesi, Navatu and Isaac Scholes working in tandem hit the front.
One for the highlight reel, Pardesi made the initial surge through the heart of the Bulls defence before linking up with Navatu, who then charged on to within about 5m of the line and threw a lovely offload to Scholes.
It was exactly what coach Jason Waerea had instructed them to do at half-time.
He had wanted them to hit it up through the middle and suck in the Bulls defence, and then look to go wide.
The Red Devils’ momentum was briefly stymied when Williams kicked the Bulls ahead again, but they went virtually straight down the other end and earned a penalty of their own.
Zac Newcombe made no mistake to give them a two point lead with just over 10 minutes to play.
The Bulls caught a lucky break when the Red Devils made a mess of the kick-off and they made the most of it, Jamie Sampson putting on some fancy footwork and slicing through the defence before offloading to Jordan Cosh, who did the rest.
Williams added the extras for a five point advantage.
But as they have so often done this season the Red Devils were surging home and after a couple of strong pick and drives from a short-arm scrum penalty, breakaway Jeremy Brown crossed in the right corner to tie up the game with the kick to come.
It was a tough conversion and Newcombe was unable to add the extra two.
Red Devils skipper Matt Roseby expressed mixed emotions about the draw.
“It’s a bit bittersweet really,” he said.
“It would have been good to get the win but the boys worked really hard in that second half.”
“But Moree are a strong side so any points you can take against them are always good points.”
He admittedly thought they were going to get there.
“We had plenty of confidence. We have a bad habit of starting slow so we knew we had the potential to come back and we nearly got there but we just missed out in the end,” he said.
The introduction of Navatu into the game in the second half had an obvious impact. He was like a shot of adrenalin for the Red Devils, and they fed off the momentum he provided.
“That straight running line was huge. It’s just that front foot ball for that second wave of attack,” Waerea said.
The Bulls were understandably disappointed to have to settle for the two points after in skipper Nathan Ebbett’s view playing the Red Devils off the park in the first half,
There was also a sense of frustration, Ebbett and co-coach Mick Grant both lamenting that they weren’t able to play for the 80 minutes.
“We had phases that were great and phases where we just went to sleep and let them play the game,” Ebbett said.
Looking to bounce back from only their second loss of the season, they showed good intent early but were outenthused by the Red Devils in the second half, Grant conceded.
“We couldn’t get back in the game and couldn’t get the ball,” he said.
The constant penalties didn’t help their cause, or help them find their rhythm.
It wasn’t all doom and gloom.
“I thought the boys defended well, we were strong with our shoulders,” Ebbett said.
He was one of their best along with Matt Wannan and Samspon.
The latter showed the potent mix of speed and vision, coupled with a superb passing game, that has seen him dazzle the competition this season.
