Tamworth Kangaroos: Ben Mitchell speaks after heavy loss to Inverell Saints

Also read:

And, try as they might, the Roos could not prevent the Inverell Saints from running roughshod en route to a big win.

"I thought we would have been more competitive than what the scoreline showed," Tamworth assistant coach, Ben Mitchell, said of his team's 25.10.160 to 3.7.25 loss.

"Not having a bench and it being a hot day ... we ran out of legs. We had a couple of injuries as well which didn't help the situation."

In local sport, teams are almost always weaker away from home, as players are often unwilling or unable to travel the distances required.

On Saturday, absences and injuries reduced the Roos to just 16 men, which Inverell voluntarily matched on the field - but the Saints had the advantage of a full bench as well.

It was already going to be a grueling game for Tamworth, as Inverell is widely considered to be one of the toughest teams in the competition.

Their win allowed the Saints to displace the Roos and take the second spot on the ladder.

With two rounds remaining in the regular competition, one of which is another clash against Inverell while the other is a derby against the top-ranked Swans, Mitchell knows the Roos will need to play out of their skins to regain a top-two ranking.

However, the numbers two to four on the ladder currently have the same number of points, wins, and losses, and are only separated by one percentage point.

Given the closeness of the competition, the Roos are only one good win away from regaining the spot they have held for most of the season.

"That's the thing, it doesn't take much," Mitchell said.

"If we hit a little bit of form in the next couple of weeks, then we're right back in the calculations."

Given the strength of their opposition, however, it will have to be a very good win indeed.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: