NORTH Coast Bulldogs were competitive for 60 minutes, but ultimately had no answers for a strong Northern Rivers Titans in a 34-10 defeat at Geoff King Motors Oval in Coffs Harbour on Saturday.
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The Bulldogs needed to win and then have other results go their way to progress to the under-23 Country Rugby League Country Championship finals.
But it wasn't to be with although lock forward Ollie Pascoe, hooker Oscar Carey and fullback Kaine Parkinson tried hard in the 24-point loss.
Coach Matt Shipway said it was an improvement on their fumbling effort last weekend, although a lack of depth proved costly.
"We still made a few mistakes, but were still in the game with about 20 minutes to go," he said.
"It was a lot better than last week."
Northern Rivers scored a few late tries to blow the scoreline out with Shipway lamenting a lack of size in the forwards as one of the main reasons for the defeat.
We were playing genuine second-rowers in the middle and you get found out a bit when you come up against teams that are strong there.
- North Coast Bulldogs under-23 coach Matt Shipway
"We were playing genuine second-rowers in the middle and you get found out a bit when you come up against teams that are strong there," he said.
"Things are probably a bit more evident when you're short a couple of players in the forwards too, but the majority of our backs played well.
"We just need that bit of depth when we lost a few front rowers and we lacked a bit of punch off the bench even though the guys did as good as they could.
"But it's a big difference when you're playing out of position."
Shipway said fitness was another key ingredient that was missing and North Coast need to change that in future years.
"With what we've got, we're asking men with jobs and families to give up a Sunday morning," he said.
"We started mid-December and I think if you know you're in the age bracket we're looking for, you've got to find a reason to train yourself.
"We don't have the time to do that conditioning side of things. We've got to have our basic structures downpat so players individually need to take a bit more responsibility."
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