With a choppy and wet field to contend with, the Gunnedah side were thrown from their game plan.

“It was pretty ragged. We obviously weren’t prepared for the wet,” first grade coach Jason Waerea said.

“Not having a wet weather back up plan kind of brought us undone a bit. A few errors crept into our game.”

Quirindi were the first to get on the board after an error gave favour to the visitors.

“They got down and camped in our quarter after an error and scored with a ruck and maul try.

“I think we played a bit lateral for a wet weather game,” Waerea said.

Things got worse for the Reds after they were reduced to 14 following a red card.

A challenge on the kick receiver drew the ire from the referee but Waerea felt it was a harsh call.

“In my eyes, yeah [it was harsh] – a yellow for sure. It did make it really tough after that.

“It’s ironic though because it was after that we put a try on them.

“It could have been a lot worse for us. We defended like absolute troopers for 50 minutes with 14,” he said.

A bit of tinkering and Gunnedah were able to hold on for a 5-5 low scorer.

It wasn’t the same story in reserves as Gunnedah ran rampant against the visitors.

“Some guys came out of the woodwork for that game and we were too classy for Quirindi,” Waerea said.

The game blew out to an eventual 79-5 win for the Red Devil reserves.

It was a big day for the club on and off the park as they celebrated their 125th anniversary.

“It was a really good day for our club. We had great numbers turn out to watch despite the crappy weather,” Waerea said.

The players will enjoy a week off this weekend before they head to Tamworth Rugby Park to take on Tamworth on May 14.

Tamworth has lost their opening two games of the season against Inverell and Walcha, but Waerea is expecting a tough clash.

“It’ll be a tough game. We came out of the weekend injury free and will have a few other guys back which will give us more options,” he said.