It's the nine-letter word used by Port City Breakers coach Dan Kemp that best describes the 2021 Group 3 rugby league season.
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The floods in March kicked off what was going to be a frustrating season and it was all downhill from there after the competition start was pushed back four weeks.
When it finally did start in May, the punctuation marks continued.
"It was sh*thouse," Kemp said when asked how he would reflect on the season.
"Absolutely sh*thouse in regards to training and playing. In previous years if we had to miss two or three training runs in a year I'd be filthy.
Sh*thouse. It was absolutely sh*thouse in regards to training and playing.
- Dan Kemp
"We were not training all week and then playing on the weekend and we've never had to do that before and I know other clubs had to do it as well, but it just became frustrating.
"It was a strange old year."
The Breakers were arguably the most affected after they agreed to not play any home games, citing the uncertainty with the pandemic and whether crowds would be allowed.
"We were frustrated from the get-go and then the competition was put back four weeks because of the floods. Then there was another stage in the middle of the year where we didn't play for another four weeks," Kemp recalled.
"You'd play for two weeks, then have a week off just for whatever reason and then we missed four weeks. Then we played for three weeks and then were told 'nah this one's not at home you've got to go to Forster'.
"It was just a frustrating year football-wise but everyone had to put up with that."
Despite the stop-start nature of the year the Breakers managed to unearth some young talent with Dane Perry, Cody Fischer and Nick Smith all proving they were capable of handling first grade football.
"It was good for all the young blokes because they were thrown in the deep end and did great; Dane Perry in particular is well and truly a first grader now," Kemp said.
"The club's never been in a better spot with all these young fellas coming through. It's just on the field we didn't get out of first gear."
The club's never been in a better spot with all these young fellas coming through. It's just on the field we didn't get out of first gear.
- Dan Kemp
While Group 3 management did their best to find a way to complete the season, the pandemic ultimately had the last laugh for a second-straight year.
Kemp won't coach the Breakers next season after moving to Yamba, but he felt the standard of competition in Group 3 was on a downward turn.
"Five sides could have won it this year," he said.
"You only had to win two or three games in a row and you'd win the comp. I didn't think it was a vintage season, put it that way in terms of the strength of clubs.
"I think it's probably dropped off every year since I've been here."
