Tamworth coach Peter Burke couldn't hide his frustration after the Magpies again paid the price for their illdiscipline as they slumped to their seventh loss on Saturday.
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A common theme in all seven has been their illdiscipline.
Against Robb College on Saturday, on the back of a 15-3 penalty count against them, they found themselves down 20-nil at half-time.
They were able to drag themselves back into the contest in the second half, getting back to 25-21 with just over 10 minutes to play. But the students scored a late try to kick away again and claim a deserved 32-21 win.
"We're chasing our tail all the time and it's purely and simply discipline," Burke said, the frustration evident in his voice.
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Part of that frustration is he knows, and has seen, what they are capable of when they are disciplined.
"It's entirely in their court," he said.
"They've got enough talent but they've got to grow up as far as their attitude towards the game is concerned."
"How do you expect to win a game when you're delivering back-to-back penalties to the opposition and giving them all the field position."
He gave them credit to them for the way they came back in the second half. They even had their opportunity to take the lead, but coughed up the ball.
In what was a double blow, Barbarians pipped Armidale 29-26 in the other game to leapfrog the Magpies into fourth and leave them now five points adrift of a finals spot.
"It means that the safety valve has been turned off for us," Burke said.
They don't have that cushion any more of anyone sitting below them.
He thought winger Finau Tuqeta had his best game for the club all season, and lamented that he didn't have 15 'Fi Fi's'.
"He was tackling blokes twice his size, making yards," he said.
Liam Allen was also good at five-eighth, some of his defensive work the best Burke has seen from him all year. Outside centre Jono Dunlop also ran some good lines and started to look a bit more comfortable there.
The Magpies are now looking forward to playing their first game at home for about about eight weeks, hosting competition leaders St Alberts this coming Saturday.
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