'Fun', 'challenging', 'frustrating': James embraces the coaching rollercoaster

Not only had Gunnedah lost a slew of players from the previous season including almost their entire backline, and their two biggest strike weapons - himself being one of them, he also had to navigate the tricky transition from team-mate one year, and long-time team-mate in some instances, to coach the next.

It is a different dynamic and can take some adjusting to.

"I think it's a hard thing when you go from being a player, a mate, and that kind of thing, to being in a position of more authority and trying to get them to listen and understand what you want to do in changing things," Perrett said.

There can be a tendency to be a bit "laissez-faire" about it.

But, it hasn't been too bad and for the most part - there's been some "frustrating" results - Perrett is enjoying it.

"It's been fun," he said.

"It's been challenging."

One of the biggest challenges he has found has been keeping the players "interested and engaged" and "giving them reasons to keep turning up to training" with the stop-start nature of the draw.

At times they have gone two weeks without a game.

The intent was to still get together the Saturdays they have off but so far circumstances have dictated that that has only happened once.

In recent seasons by this stage well ensconced in the top four, with one game remaining in the first round, the Red Devils sit second-last, but only three points adrift of fourth-placed Inverell, who they beat 36-19 in the most recent round on Saturday, to notch their first win of the season.

Perrett said it was good to "get the monkey off the back", especially having come so close previously.

It could easily be a different story with three of their four losses being by six points or less and two of them after they conceded a try virtually on the bell.

Thrashed by Moree the week following the second of those last-minute losses, he said it has just taken a little while to build that belief in themselves that they can do it.

It's also taken a while to find their feet with the different style and structure the personnel changes have meant they have to play.

Perrett thought there were signs of it starting to come together on Saturday.

"And we had a bit better of an attitude as well for this game, which helped a lot," he said, highlighting their determination and the way they were able to stick to their structure as what most impressed him about the performance.

And while naturally he "would have liked to have one or two more wins", he said how they're travelling is "probably pretty fitting".

"We've just got to keep building, hopefully we'll get better every week," he said.

They have Quirindi this Saturday, which Perrett said will be "a good little tester" to see if they "can back it up and repeat the performance".

"That's going to be the biggest challenge now," he said.

"We know we can do it, can we do it again?."