Nicholl takes the field in Kangaroos 'best game' of 2022

The Nomads are renowned for being tough to beat at home in Armidale, and the Kangaroos were struck on the day by depleted numbers.

So short-staffed were they, in fact, that Nicholl himself had to take the field for Tamworth.

"Late in the third quarter, I did the hamstring. So that was the end of that," Nicholl said.

But despite the challenges of playing away from home with one interchange, the Kangaroos controlled the majority of the match.

It was, Nicholl said, the best they had played with the new game plan he has implemented over the course of the year.

"Game plan-wise, that was our best game," he said.

"From a coaching point of view, when the players are telling you that the game plan is working, that's a [special] moment.

"The summary at the end of the game was that we played our way, we played the way we train, and it looked pretty good."

For the first half, the competition remained very much alive and the Kangaroos only held a narrow two-goal lead at the midway point.

But in the second half, the team's play continued to coalesce and their lead stretched as the Nomads' will faded.

"At three-quarter time, we said we're in front enough to really put this away," Nicholl said.

"But sometimes when you say that, it ends up being a close finish. But we continued with the same game plan and they just couldn't stay with us."

The highlight of the Kangaroos' 18.14.122 to 10.6.66 win was Jack Dadd's haul of six goals in his first game this year.

Other than Dadd, six players contributed to the goal-kicking tally.

The victory has extended the Kangaroos' stay in second place on the ladder, where they sit behind the Swans and just ahead of the Inverell Saints.

Now that the team has started to find its groove, Nicholl is eager to test the players against those two teams to really see where they truly fall in the pecking order.

"I'm still keen to play the Swans or Inverell again, just to test ourselves," he said.

"I feel like our toughest game so far was against the Swans, and they gave us a bit of a touch-up.

"We're looking forward to some tougher games."

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