Central North were left to rue missed opportunities after their Richardson Shield hopes were scuppered in heart-breaking fashion on Saturday with Western Plains' fullback Dave Jenkins scoring after the full-time siren to snatch a 27-25 win.
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In a fitting end to a see-sawing tussle, the Plainsmen spun it wide from a penalty quick-tap and found some space to book a spot in Sunday's final.
It was so nearly the Kookaburras', with Wes Rooney kicking them three ahead with just over two minutes to play.
But they weren't able to close it out. After failing to find touch from a clearing kick, the Kookaburras found themselves having to scramble back to ground the ball in-goal and packing down for a scrum 5m from their line.
After then earning a penalty, with the draw not enough to go through, the Plainsmen chanced their arm and it paid off.
Kookaburras coach Mick Squires was understandably disappointed, as were the players. They knew they'd let a shot at the silverware slip through their fingers.
"At the end of the day we just made a couple of errors and probably didn't take our chances that last 15 minutes," Squires reflected.
They had some good moments to break the 22-all stalemate that had existed since Rooney locked up the scores with 22 to play.
One of the best was when Pat Keen sensed some space in behind the defence and grubbered for winger Liam Mack, but the youngster couldn't quite pick the ball up. Another time they were held up just centimetres short and the Plainsmen won the turnover.
Squires though couldn't fault the effort.
"I thought we were dominant in the forward, we weren't really rewarded for it, and then our back's effort was fantastic," he said.
"Andrew's (Moodie) kicking game just set the platform for us. But we just couldn't ice a few things, there were a few dropped balls and penalties."
Particularly in the first part of the second half they couldn't seem to control the ball as the Plainsmen assumed the momentum and took the lead 22-19.
Squires thought Keen was outstanding in the centres. He also thought all the forwards were outstanding but made particular mention of James McLean, Richie Hunt, Henry Leslie, Andrew Collins and Toby Maslen.
He had pulled something of a rabbit out of a hat to fix their lack of a half-back situation, drafting in former Magpie and current North Tamworth star Tevita Pecili.
With New England's earlier 54-10 defeat at the hands of Mid North Coast, the Kookaburras loss set up a northern showdown on Sunday.
It was a tough day for the local sides with the Central North/New England women going down to Hunter 34-5 and the Lions colts losing to Hunter 17-nil in their opening game.
They then almost blew it but bounced back in their second game, pipping Far North Coast 13-10.
After going down to 13 and conceding a try to make it 10-all with a minute-and-a-half to go, the Lions' scrum came through for them earning a penalty which Grayson TeMoana slotted after the bell.
Coach Luke Stephen thought they found a lot better rhythm in that second game.
"There's always that bit where it's your first game and you're playing a zone that's strong like Hunter. But for our guys it was good for them to be able to just have a bit of a break, reset, get a bit of a better understanding of what the tournament's about and play better," he said.
