Ahead of the 2023 season Pirates co-coach Evan Kellow felt they had a real opportunity to challenge for the premiership.
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He still does. Although not if they continue to play like they did at Inverell on Saturday.
Kellow was scathing of their performance in the 43-41 loss, well the first 70 minutes anyway, labelling it one of the "most pathetic 70 minutes of footy" that he's seen from a Pirates side in a long time.
It was a bit rocks and diamonds, with the last 10 minutes by contrast some of the best footy they've played all season as they stormed home from 43-22 down.
"The talk went up 10 levels, the attitude at the breakdown... if you took the first 70 minutes out of it, it was a bloody joy to watch," Kellow said.
Unfortunately the damage had been done and the Highlanders held on to post their first win of the season.
Part of Kellow's frustration was that it was an opportunity to consolidate their position on the top of the table and keep a bit of a buffer between them and Gunnedah.
"We missed a huge opportunity," he said.
"We really should have gone out there and made a statement."
Instead the Red Devils moved back into the No.1 spot (albeit only on wins with both sides on 60 points).
Kellow paid credit to the Highlanders. They were tough and stuck to their guns for the majority of the game, he said, and deserved the win.
As for Pirates' performance, he said he could give "a dozen reasons" that contributed to the result.
"But I think none of them were the main reason.
"It was just a culmination of a lot of things," he said.
They were "heavily done" in the penalty count, lacked commitment at the breakdown, couldn't hold onto the ball, didn't kick well or defend well, were outenthused.. the list goes on.
All things that they can't afford to do in their next few games.
They have one of the toughest runs home. After the bye this weekend they have the Red Devils, followed by Narrabri and then Walcha to finish.
Guilty of being probably a bit lacklustre in their commitment at training in the lead-up to Saturday, Kellow said they spoke about that post-match.
"I think there was a really clear line in the sand around commitment and sacrifices and all those sort of things you've got to make," he said.
"I made it pretty clear on Saturday, that moving forward we need to be there and we need to find that collective goal and get on the bus."
In a blow, they do look like being without prop Michael Purtle for the rest of the season after he dislocated his shoulder midway through the first half on Saturday.
Kellow said he will be a big loss.
"I think there's probably a lot of people that underestimate what Purts gives us a bit. He plays 80 minutes every week, never misses a training session and he scrummages well," he said.
