They may not have come away with the win, but Inverell Highlanders gave first grade ladder leaders Moree Bulls a run for their money on Saturday.
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The score was close in the first half, however the home side managed to score four tries in the second to finish with a 35-12 win.
"We let them score three soft tries with a lapse of concentration and communication, so that blew it out a little but otherwise there wasn't much in," Highlanders first grade coach Colin Mayes said.
"[Moree] are a good team; they knew they could take chances and they did just that."
Mayes said it's taken his side the first round to find their feet, but now they're starting to play together more as a team, and he believes they're just going to get better and better.
"They're playing a lot better," he said.
"It's taken the first round to get to grips with each other and now we're putting it all together and getting more competitive in the second round.
"They played together well. Defence was better, there was more togetherness as a team, rather than as individuals.
"I was really proud of the way they played. To play Moree at Moree and push them close... If we had more patience and didn't let those three tries in, you never know what could have happened."
Patience and communication are the two key areas the Highlanders need to work on, particularly leading up to their match against Walcha this Saturday, according to Mayes.
"They just lacked patience trying to score," he said.
"On Saturday, the two areas I highlighted was patience on attack and on defence, more communication and having our line-up. We need to spread our defence line more."
The Highlanders will host Walcha this Saturday, June 29, and with the Rams coming off the back of an upset by Narrabri, Mayes said they'll be "very tough".
"They'll be dying to get the win," he said.
"But they will be travelling away, so if we can push like we did against Moree but with more patience, who knows, another upset could be on the cards."