Winning the 2019 World Wheelchair Rugby Challenge would have capped a remarkable week of competition for Port Macquarie's Ryley Batt.
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The Steelers captain - and one of Port Macquarie's favourite sons - notched up his 300th game for Australia during the competition - a 61-54 win over Canada - in Tokyo.
But it wasn't the finish to the tournament Batt was hoping for with the Steelers going down - and badly - to the United States in the final 59-50.
The US completely humbled the reigning Paralympic champions to record a resounding victory after the scores were locked at 27-all at half-time.
Uncharacteristic handling errors, wayward passes and panic from the Steelers saw the Americans score five unanswered goals in the third quarter.
Batt told Paralympics Australia that the Steelers will now need to regroup and a find to way to bounce back as they attempt to win their third consecutive Paralympic gold medal next year in Tokyo.
"I spoke to the team straight after the game and the message was 'remember this moment', next year is our priority," Batt said.
"That's when it matters for us so remember this feeling, remember this game and make sure we never have to go through this again.
"We'll definitely bounce back.
"It was probably the worst rugby I've seen us play in a long time," Batt said.
Despite being outplayed, Batt was also quick to praise the eventual winners.
Not taking anything away from America, they are a fantastic team, but we beat ourselves.
- Ryley Batt
"Not taking anything away from America, they are a fantastic team, but we beat ourselves," he said.
"To lose by eight goals, I don't think I've ever lost in final of a tournament by eight goals in my life.
"It hurts. It does hurt.
"Performance-wise, I thought the whole team was fantastic for the whole tournament but unfortunately you have one bad quarter and you pay for it."
Batt scored 32 goals in the final, while Chris Bond (10 goals) and Andrew Edmondson (nine) were the other scorers.
"We had a bad game. That happens in sport. At half-time we were right in the game. I thought we were going to win it.
"We have confidence, we didn't feel fatigued, but then a few errors slipped into our game and the momentum totally swung against us."
Australian coach Brad Dubberley did his best to contain his frustration after the match, but it was obvious how much the loss hurt.
"That was extremely disappointing," Dubberley said.
"Hopefully this is the wake-up call the team needs to switch on when it matters.
"There were some brain-fade moments, losses of concentration. The US played well but we made them look good.
"I can't remember a worse third quarter. The number of turnovers was ridiculous.
"Hopefully the same result doesn't happen here in Tokyo next year."
The 12 turnovers conceded by the Steelers tonight, including 10 in the second half, were a significant portion of the total conceded (16) in their four previous appearances at the tournament.
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