Standing in the middle of the fast-emptying Scully Park playing field this evening, Peter Stevens looked slightly shellshocked.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
The long-time servant of rugby league in the North West had just coached the Group 4 first grade side in the first Tri Series held since 2019. And, in the decider against Group 21, they were pummelled 44-6.
"I didn't see it coming," Stevens said.
"Our warmup was good, and we came out of our first game well. But they were clinical, they didn't make a mistake.
"They were definitely a side that we had to mount some pressure on, we just couldn't do it early."
Group 4 had, for all intents and purposes, gone missing - particularly in the first half.
Today's games were shortened to ensure all three sides could play each other across all three grades. And at the end of the first 30-minute half, the score was 30-nil in favour of the visitors.
"We probably had 10 or 12 poor missed tackles, and they created a score of nearly every single one of them," Stevens said.
"They're a good group, they're the benchmark now we're back doing the Tri Series. So it's up to Group 4 and Group 19; the bar is set, so we've got to rise to it."
The second half was more competitive, and Moree's Brenton Cochrane eventually broke through for Group 4's first try of the game. But they couldn't stop Group 21's roll, and fell to a 44-6 defeat.
The argument could be made that Group 4 had a tougher task in playing first thing in the morning (against Group 19, who they defeated 40-6), then in the evening after a break of roughly five hours, but Stevens said it "wasn't an excuse".
"We knew well before we came here that that was the road we had to hoe," he said.
"We had to play at 10.40am and then back up and play again at 4.30pm ... but some of these boys are getting on a bit and not used to doing that. So it might have had a little bit of an effect, but it's definitely not an excuse."
In spite of the one-sided ending to the day, Stevens was thrilled with how the Tri Series played out as a whole.
The grandstand was mostly full throughout the day, and there was excellent football on display for spectators.
"It's been a great day," Stevens said.
"It's great to have it back. There was a good crowd here all day ... it's a great concept, and to get our rep footy back on track, it's something we definitely need."
