CNRU Round 17: Gunnedah make it back-to-back minor premierships with 46-17 win over Walcha

The Red Devils will host their first major semi-final since 2004 after beating Walcha 46-17 in front of a surprisingly big crowd, given the weather, at Gunnedah Rugby Park on Saturday.

The win ensured they can't be caught for top spot with one round remaining.

But the celebrations, on the field at least, were considerably tempered, the Red Devils conscious of not wasting the opportunity they have given themselves.

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"It's very good to obviously get the minor premiership again but the boys all know that that doesn't mean anything if we can't continue it on," captain James Perrett said post match.

The Red Devils had gone into the game knowing a win would wrap it up for them and wanting to get back to the form that has had them touted as premiership favourites for much of the season after being shown up by Pirates last week.

They couldn't has asked for a better start, Matt Roseby opening the scoring off a driving maul in the seventh minute.

But as has often been the story this season they "plateaued" for a period and the Rams made the most of their first real attacking opportunity, Charlie Keen running onto a sneaky grubber in goal from Ed Churchill to go ahead 7-5 after 17 minutes.

Tim Wilson twisted his way over a few minutes later to put the Red Devils back in front, but the Rams responded immediately through Henry Leslie to level the scores at 12-all.

At that stage not looking like a contest between first and seventh, the Red Devils seized the momentum with two brilliant tries for a 24-12 lead at half-time.

The second was a breathtaking, if not audacious, effort, and showed the best of their defence and attack. After defending stoutly as the Rams peppered their line and forcing a turnover, Elijah Sufia then, sensing an opportunity ran it out and busted through a couple of tackles before linking up with Cameron Mitchell, who did the same, Perrett then doing the rest.

Marcus Hayne then kicked them further ahead in the opening minutes of the second half. But like the first half the Rams fought their way back into the contest, and it wasn't until just over 15 minutes remaining that the Red Devils were able to breach their line again.

The machine then really kicked into gear, Perrett putting the result beyond doubt with his second before Mitchell put the exclamation point on what was a much improved showing on the previous week.

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"It was good to bounce back like we did today," he said, conceding last week was "probably a good wake-up call".

Guilty of being a bit "relaxed", he said you "could just feel it" that they were a lot more switched on on Saturday.

"There was a lot more focus. It was a very different feeling warming up and even out on the field," he said.

"There was chat, there were people talking, people communicating. Whereas no-one said boo last week."

The Rams did challenge them, the scoreline not reflecting "how tough the game was".

"So it was good to see the boys stick to the structure, and stick to our platforms," Perrett continued.

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One of the most pleasing aspects from his perspective was the defensive effort. Numerous times they had to hold the Rams out for multiple phases on their line, and at times even pushed them back.

It's something, he said, they probably haven't done since the start of the season and will be crucial in the big games coming up.

They traded the red hoops for pink for the day in support of Can Assist. Auctioned off after the game the special jerseys raised $19,000.

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