Moree Bulls have now lost all hope of finishing first on the ladder this year, following an especially disappointing loss to Gunnedah Red Devils on Saturday.
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A record Ladies Day crowd wasn't enough to get the Bulls over the line on Saturday, with the visitors proving too good for the home side, downing them 37-28.
While Bulls first grade co-coach Damien Kelly couldn't quite pinpoint exactly what went wrong on Saturday, he said much of it could be attributed to Gunnedah not letting them play smart.
"We struggled to get the ball, or any field position," Kelly said.
"Once we got into their 22, we had their defence stretched but we just couldn't get the ball down there.
"If we got down in the right areas, we could have scored more points. We didn't play as smart as we should have. But in saying that, Gunnedah didn't let us.
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"It was frustrating to watch.
"We'd make silly mistakes and had a lot of penalties. When it looked like we'd get down there, we'd lose the ball.
"It was disappointing to do that on Ladies Day."
It's the second time the Bulls have lost to Gunnedah this season, and their second loss in a row after going down to ladder leaders Walcha the previous week.
Kelly said the recent losses have dashed their chances of finishing the season on top of the Central North rugby competition ladder.
"To go through 75 per cent of the year and only lose one game and now to drop two in a row is disappointing," he said.
"We were going well, just cruising along, but we probably weren't playing as well as we could."
Although still sitting second, the Bulls are now eight points behind Walcha and just one point ahead of third-placed Narrabri, with fifth-placed Gunnedah only five points behind.
"I don't think we'll catch Walcha now, that ship has sailed," Kelly said.
"We now have to hang onto second but we've got to win the next two games and win them well.
"We've got a bit of work to do in the next month."
This Saturday the Bulls will travel four hours to Scone, which Kelly said is always challenging considering the distance.
"It's always a tough trip - the four plus hours in a car and a coupe of guys are already injured," he said.
"But we've got a side to go down and win, and we have to, or we'll drop down the ladder."
Kelly said everything needs to improve in their game this weekend if they want to keep their second spot.
"We need to defend better, attack better, be more desperate, play smarter," he said.
"We need to play this weekend like our season depends on it, which it does. We don't have any breathing room which we did have before.
"Every game is must-win now."
The Bulls have the bye the following week before facing Narrabri in Narrabri for the final home and away round of the 2019 season - a game that could determine which of the two sides will finish the season in second place.
Meanwhile, Moree's second grade side gave the Ladies Day crowd something to cheer about as they defeated Gunnedah 55-7 to maintain their now second spot on the ladder, however the women's side went down to Gunnedah in both of their games - 27-7 and 15-7.