Battered and bruised: Bolts' streak snapped in 'hostile' game

The Thunderbolts climbed from last to fifth on the Waratah Youth Men's League 2 ladder during that spree, but coach Mitch Balderston knew their rise would likely stall against the juggernaut Sea Eagles side.

"We went into the weekend's game and played pretty much our full bench with the mindset that we really want to try and beat Manly when they come back to our court," Balderston said.

Played at the Northern Beaches Indoor Sports Centre, the match was physical and resulted in numerous referee interventions, along with some bloodied Tamworth players.

"We had 13 fouls called for us all game," Balderston said.

"We suffered quite a few injuries and split lips and all sorts of things. It was definitely a hostile environment, but one we knew we were walking into."

The 119-56 defeat, with a margin of 63 points, was Tamworth's biggest loss of the year.

But that kind of performance was not out of the norm for the Sea Eagles, who have the highest tally of points scored and the lowest number of points conceded of any team in the league.

Additionally, Balderston admitted that the Thunderbolts kept some of their updated tactics under wraps during the game, to give themselves a better chance of victory in three weeks when Manly makes the trip to the Tamworth Sports Dome.

"We've done a lot of work on a few other offensive and defensive sets that we're going to bring into play that I'm confident will give us a bit of an edge," Balderston said.

"But when you're in a 20-game season, you don't want to roll that out to early and let everyone else scout it and see how it works. So you've got to keep a little bit in the tank for the back end of the season."

Saturday's scoreline was also likely exacerbated by the absence of Bailey Keech, who leads the scoring for the Thunderbolts this season, and is currently out with an ankle injury.

This Saturday, Tamworth will face the Hornsby Ku Ring Gai Spiders at home, in a fourth-versus-fifth clash which Balderston said is "must-win".

That game begins a tough run for the Thunderbolts which will be followed a fortnight later by the rematch against Manly, before a fixture against the second-ranked Coffs Harbour Suns on June 24.

"We're hoping to upset one of those guys at some stage in the next month," Balderston said.

"We've just got to pick our timing on it, because if we can do that, it's a very real possibility we find that top four spot."

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