Schooled on rugby league growing up, the chance to play with his cousin enticed Zac Newcombe to switch codes and have a run with the Red Devils.
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A decade later the 28-year old is still pulling on the blue and red jersey, and has become one of the mainstays of Gunnedah’s backline.
“I played league until I was 18 turning 19. My cousin was out here (Gunnedah Rugby Park) and I’d never played with him before,” Newcombe explained.
Brother Kyle has since joined him.
The two have been lucky enough to play together a fair bit over the years, although they do play very different positions.
“He’s (Kyle) more of a front row specialist,” Zac said.
He is more of a centre, or as the case may be in recent weeks five-eighth.
Part of the Red Devils side that won the second grade premiership in 2012, the mine surveyor was through injuries thrust into the pivot role against Pirates but took to it like a duck to water.
Red Devils coach Jason Waerea noted that he had a great game there, breaking through the line quite a few times and hitting some wide runners with long balls.
It wasn’t a totally foreign role for Newcombe.
He played a fair bit in the halves in his earlier league days, and has enjoyed the switch.
“I’m loving it,” he said.
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He credits having players like Jamie Mitchell and Jono Madden outside of him for making the transition easier.
Of course playing behind a dominant pack also helps.
It gives you that bit more space and time to make decisions, and importantly front foot ball.
And as they showed against Moree last Saturday as they clawed their way back from 17-nil down to draw 34-all with the second-placed Bulls, the Red Devils can be hard to stop once they get a bit of momentum.
“We get a bit of go-forward and from that we’re fairly confident we can score points,” Newcombe said.
They will be looking to the pack to again lead the charge when they tackle third-placed Walcha on Saturday.
The Red Devils got the points in the first round but the Rams are a very different side – and proposition – to what they were then.
They haven’t lost a game since and have knocked off both Pirates and Moree.
“They’ve got a bit more consistency in their team,” Newcombe said.
“(But) It’s another chance to probably show we should be in the four.”
Not surprisingly he pinpointed the Rams backs as the danger, and limiting their influence will be crucial if the Red Devils are to get the result.
They were able to do that pretty well that last meeting, shutting the Walcha attack down before they could go wide.
But it’s not all about the backs, and as Newcombe pointed out the Rams forwards “get around the park pretty well”.
The results against the Rams and Bulls are indicative of what he described as a season of “probably what could have been a bit”.
“We’ve given it to a couple of the top teams,” he said.
Unfortunately they’ve struggled to put it together against some of the lower-placed teams, which has hurt them.