Dungowan Cowboys co-coach Luke Taylor didn't hold back in a brutally honest assessment of his side's poor display in Saturday's 16-10 loss to the Wingham Tigers at the Dungowan Recreation Reserve.
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"We didn't fire a shot," the Cowboy trump reckoned, so unimpressed was he with the side's trial.
"Bit of a shambles."
He said the Cowboys missed the likes of co-coach Shaun Ferguson, Brett Jarrett, Kierin Croft, Clint Ridley, Ryan Ingram and Pat Lange.
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"Pat Lange has been real good for us the last couple of games, we missed him. All the boys tried hard but it took a 40-year-old bloke to show them how to do it," Taylor said.
"Blair (Maloney), and Liam (Mack) were good and Toby Taggart but Macca was our best," he said of Mark Macauley, the 40-year-old bloke he was referring to.
Macauley is actually 39.
"Turn 40 later this year," he said after the trial.
It hadn't gone without its hitches, the miner having to leave the field at one stage after copping an errant elbow to the chin. A bit of tape covered the gash but he returned to the field to lead the way forward in the middle.
"He showed the young blokes how to do it, nothing flash," Taylor said of his former teammate.
"He's always been the same. He's going to be real good for us."
Macauley is keen make a mark for the club although working in the mines he might miss a few games and training because of the shiftwork.
"I played here with Luke in 2017 when we lost the grand final to Werris Creek (back when both clubs were in the old G4 Second Division)," Macauley said.
He'd also spent seven years (2006-13) in the Upper Hunter playing with Aberdeen.
"They were very passionate," he said of the Tigers while he laughed at a few possum stories that appeared in the old Sports Snippets column in The Northern Daily Leader.
"They were good days," he recalled with a huge grin.
"It was a good experience (in Group 21) with Matt Lantry (coach). I had a year with Central Charlestown too (in Newcastle). That was good too. Just as tough as here (Group 21 and 4) but a bit faster down there."
He said coming out of retirement was all about "being around the boys again" even if it means copping a couple on the chin.
WINGHAM TIGERS 16 (Nick Beachem 2, Blake Sky tries, Fletcher Lewis, Beachem gls) d DUNGOWAN COWBOYS 10 (Trent Taylor, Liam Mack tries, Taylor gl).
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