Many of the plans coach Dave Stewart had for his side went out the window when they turned up to David Taylor Oval earlier today.
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The Werris Creek Magpies' first graders were greeted with the sight of overcast skies and a muddy field that had already been churned by two prior games on the same surface.
As a result, their first half against the Narrabri Blues frustrated the veteran coach.
"We knew we were in for a tough one, but we weren't happy with our first 40," Stewart said.
"I think our options were wrong with the weather that it was. I think we underestimated them a bit, and we thought we just had to play a bit of flash football and we'd just score points. That wasn't the case."
The Blues' last-place ranking on the ladder has deceived a number of teams into thinking that they are easybeats in 2024.
While they are yet to score a big upset, they have given most sides headaches and proven that a win against them should not be considered a given.
"We got the respect back at half time," Stewart said.
"We spoke about what we had to do moving forward, and executed in the second half."
Werris Creek's 46-6 victory was all the more impressive for the bevy of big names that sat the game out, including Beau Parry, Nathanael Slater, and Harlee Millgate.
It is a credit not only to the depth of the club's stocks, Stewart said, but also reserve grade coach Jason Smith that so many of his players are ready to fill in and do themselves proud in first grade when needed.
"[Smith] has got those blokes in reggies ready to come up whenever they're called upon. It's a credit to him," he said.
The victory was Werris Creek's second-straight after a narrow four-point affair against the Gunnedah Bulldogs in round 10.
It thrusts the Magpies into third on the ladder, leapfrogging North Tamworth and Boggabri who slip to fourth and fifth respectively.