The Gunnedah Red Devils slippery slide in Central North Rugby Union continued on Saturday, this time at the hands of Moree.
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A “weakened” Devils first grade was left with few answers after a 48-17 hammering by Moree – the side’s fourth consecutive loss.
It’s a shock turnaround from the team’s uplifting defeat against the defending premiers in the corresponding match earlier this round.
Their cause wasn’t helped on the weekend by the loss of captain and halfback Dave Heyman in the second half when he collided with team-mate Nick McCabe.
“It was a pretty nasty head-clash,” Devils’ club President Stu Morrison said.
“He might be gone for the season with a fractured eye socket or even worse.”
Nick suffered concussion in the collision and both players were pulled from the field.
The pair are the latest to join the growing injury list, alongside second-rower Matt Roseby who injured his shoulder in the side’s shock loss to Inverell late last month.
“We’ve down about 15 players for the club all up,” he said.
“It’s the worst injuries we’ve ever seen.”
Among them is Tom Perrett slotted in the vacant scrumhalf position on Saturday but the damage was done.
Morrison said last weekend’s Devils line-up was substantially different to that of their last outing against Moree, when Gunnedah ran out 33-21 victors.
“There were at least five different players to that side,” he said.
There was cause for some celebration for hooker Josh Gold who made his first grade debut for the Devils on Saturday and played a full 80 minutes.
The only forward now for Gunnedah side is to consolidate what’s left in the playing ranks in the hope of an improved effort for this weekend’s clash against the Pirates.
“We’ll regroup this week and use it to prepare for the finals,” Morrison said.
“Hopefully try and fix some of the mistakes from last week.”
Then it’s on to the minor semi-final against, you guessed it, Moree.
“They’re a real good team and we’ve got to play them twice in three weeks,” he said.
But in context, the President added, the Devils had achieved much already this year.
“We set out to make it to the top tier this season, which we’ve done, so anything more is a bonus.”
The Devils reserve grade also lost on the weekend, going down 25-10 to Moree.
The region’s two-tier competition might be on its last legs after a Central North Rugby Union zone meeting on Sunday.
Red Devils President Stu Morrison said club representatives were in favour of a revert back to the conventional draw after more score blowouts in last weekend’s fixtures.
Designed to create greater competition between clubs by pitting the best of the zone in one draw in for the second half of the season and the remainder in another, the ploy looks to have backfired in its maiden year in operation.
Saturday’s second tier clash between bottom-placed clubs Quirindi and Barraba fuelled the debate, which was tipped to be a good test for both player and spectator alike.
The final score however indicated otherwise with Barraba mounting an 80-5 thumping over Quirindi. A week earlier, Walcha ran out 80-point winners also.
The two-tier burden is also weighing heavily on the top-ranked clubs which are growing weary of relentless injury and fatigue suffered through weekly, high-intensity matches.
Morrison said the consensus around the region was unanimous.
“I can’t see it (two-tier next year) going ahead,” he said.
