For their first win of the season Gunnedah couldn't have claimed a more monumental one.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Down 12-nil early the Red Devils dug in, and on the back of a powerful performance from their forwards fought back to topple premiers Pirates 36-29.
In doing so they notched their first win over the three-times defending champions since the first round in 2015.
"After a couple of close losses it's good to finally get one up," skipper Zac Newcombe said.
"And it was a tight match all day."
Red Devils coach Dan Martin admitted to thinking 'not again' when Bart Leach scored off a sneaky lineout play to get Pirates within two points of them with eight minutes to play.
After being run down by Narrabri in the second half in their first game, the Red Devils were then beaten on the bell by Inverell.
But in front of the Gunnedah faithful on Saturday the Red Devils - heeding the lessons of the previous week - showed good composure and worked their way back down into Pirates half.
"Last week losing on the bell was painful so we didn't want that to happen again," Newcombe said.
With two minutes remaining they got their opportunity to secure the points and they didn't waste it - driving their way over from a lineout from about five metres out.
It was a fitting fashion to seal the victory with the forwards the cornerstone.
They set a great platform, the scrum particularly a real weapon for them.
"Our set piece our first game compared to now is almost polar opposite," Newcombe said.
"It's good to see. The boys are working hard with it."
"It was wet underfoot and the boys were sliding everywhere and still just held it up and pushed them back."
Generally the forwards gave them a lot of momentum. They were constantly bending the line.
Sanimo Navatu at number eight was unstoppable. Every time he got the ball there was an audible air of anticipation amongst the home supporters, and it inevitably resulted in a trail of defenders clinging to him or down on the ground.
He finished with a double as did Russell Johnston.
It was a good fightback from the Red Devils with Pirates threatening to run away with the game early.
"We didn't get out of our 22 for the first 15 minutes and then after that it was just scrap and claw everything we could back," Newcombe said.
"But once we got up there we sort of proved we could get through and get the job done."
"It's one of those things we've got the team to do it. It's just getting us the ball to get the job done."
Kyle Newcombe burrowed his way over to get the Red Devils on the board. Six minutes later Navatu charged over for his first, the skipper then picking up a loose ball after the home side had been camped on Pirates' line for a couple of minutes to give them a two point lead at half-time.
Pirates struck first in the second half but two quick tries against an undermanned Pirates with Andrew Wynne in the sin-bin saw the Red Devils kick out to a 31-24 lead with just under 20 minutes to play.
"I was really pleased that the boys hung in there, Pirates are still a premiership team," Martin said.
There were a few errors which they will look to address at training, but he felt they showed a lot more toughness around the park.
Rare territory for Pirates - three straight losses - coach Mat Kelly thought they were a lot better than against Walcha.
"We were improved today," he said.
"[But] I really think the desire - Gunnedah just wanted it more than us today, and they deserved their win and we're going to need to be better."
"We're still just giving too many easy metres away, too many penalties and too many opportunities."
