Everybody from the players, referees, spectators, and possibly even the horses in the adjacent yard at the Dungowan Recreation Reserve knew that today's derby between the Dungowan Cowboys and Kootingal-Moonbi Roosters would be heated.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
But it is unlikely they knew exactly how close the game would come to boiling over in the course of the visitors' 40-22 victory.
After a competitive and enthralling first half, the Roosters led 20-16 - but the Cowboys were very much still in the game.
Then, from the 41st minute onwards, things began to unravel.
"I told my boys not to think they were going to be able to play in their dinner suits," Kootingal-Moonbi coach Mark Sheppard said.
"It's [Dungowan's] Old Boys day, they're going to be up for it, and the passion's there."
While they wanted to beat their long-time rivals, the Roosters were doubly motivated to earn the win in order to end the two-match losing streak they found themselves on.
What started out as a matter of pride and passion quickly devolved into a vitriolic affair.
Tensions erupted in the second half, with Jasper Thistle (two sin-bins and a send-off), Sam Taylor (sin bin), Dylan Lake (sin bin), Logan Howard (sin bin), Tevita 'Tex' Peceli (sent off), and McKye Tucknott-Davis (sin bin) all penalised for their involvement in fights or bad tackles.
"There's a pretty big rivalry between the two," Dungowan co-coach, Kieran Croft, said.
"It shouldn't happen to that extent, but there's going to be a bit of niggle in that. It probably just went a little bit overboard."
By the Leader's count, Kootingal were down to 11 and Dungowan down to 10 players on the field towards the end of the game, which resulted in the rarely-seen six-man scrum.
But amid the fracas, there was some good footy played.
The game was anybody's to win at the break, but arguably the turning point came in the opening minutes of the second half when, despite missing Thistle due to the first of his sin-binnings, the Roosters repelled three consecutive sets on their tryline.
"We defended our line really well," Sheppard said.
"That's what we worked on last week, our defence. I thought it was going to be a tough game, it always will be ... I just had to make sure our guys were up for it."
That seemed to break Dungowan's spirit to a certain extent, who couldn't recover after that opening period.
Sheppard praised his captain and assistant coach, Howard, for his on-field leadership.
"Logan just took charge," Sheppard said.
"He led by example right through that whole game. He had a big first half defensively and gaining metres as well."
Croft, meanwhile, said the Cowboys were "bloody disappointed" to lose the much-coveted Pepperell Shield.
"A lot of boys disappointed in themselves," he said.
"We know we're better than that, we definitely know we're better than that."
The mood after the game was largely jovial, with players from both sides mingling and chatting with drinks in hand - although there were some prickly moments that carried over from the field.
Group 4 will review the footage from the game and the coaches from both sides expect Peceli and Thistle to be handed suspensions of at least a week or two.
