INJURIES to key players during the game took the shine off Port Macquarie Pirates' gutsy 26-22 elimination final win over Southern Cross University on Sunday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
It ended the Marlins' season and set the Pirates a daunting trip to Coffs Harbour where they will play for the right to face Hastings Valley in the grand final.
Pirates will spend most of the week in ice baths and potentially sign a short-term contract with Elastoplast as they attempt to field a fit side next weekend.
Injuries to Tom Osborne, Lachie Morse, Sam Begbie, Korie Paio, Bleddyn Gant, Tom Blanch, Sam Gleeson and Jack Maunder made the task even more difficult.
But Pirates kept turning up in defence in a performance that impressed coach Nigel Harding due to the adversity his side faced.
"For once the boys manned up in defence," he said.
"There were periods where in the past we would have rolled over and let them score, but this time we stuck it out and stopped them from scoring.
"It was scrappy, but it was a real team effort and that might go a long way towards next year for the boys."
Osborne, Morse and Begbie all left the field in the first half, while Paio's performance was compared to Cooper Cronk's effort for the Sydney Roosters in last year's NRL grand final.
"That threw everything into chaos," Harding said.
"Korie is normally a fullback and played on the wing with one arm because we were short; he was directing the boys around and even with one arm he was outstanding."
Adding to the Pirates woes during the match was ill-discipline that saw three players sent to the sin bin in the second half.
"I thought there were some pretty harsh decisions made and just like players, referees have off days and we copped it," Harding said.
"That's no disrespect to the referee; he had an off day.
"The bounce of the ball didn't seem to go our way, so even though we ended up winning the game it was a scrappy affair."
Harding is under no illusions as to what his side will face at Coffs Harbour next week.
"I don't think Snappers got many injuries against the Vikings so they'll be at full-strength, but they'll be very hard to beat," he said.
"They're hard to beat when we had our full team."
What else is happening in sport?
While you're with us, you can now receive updates straight to your inbox from the Port Macquarie News. To make sure you're up to date with all the news, SIGN UP HERE.
