And while they didn’t get the points on the day, beaten 30-21 by a classy Griffith side, the Tricolours showed enough to suggest they could prove nuisance value over the back end of the season and even qualify for the semi finals.

“If we can keep the nucleus of the side together for the rest of the side we will collect a couple of scalps and sneak into the top eight,” caretaker coach Kristian Bodycott said.

“We’ve got Leeton this weekend which gives us a great chance in both grades and we’ve already beaten Rivcoll who are above us on the ladder.

“Albury have to come here and can be pressured for numbers when they travel, while we also get Temora here as well, so there’s three games we can definitely win.”

The Tricolours paid for a slow start on Saturday, with the slick Griffith outfit dominating the first half.

“I think we scored three tries to one in the second half,” Bodycott said.

“The only reason we dropped so many points in the first half was because we struggled with combinations from not training together.

“Their tries came from broken play or dropped balls and missed tackles from us and their islanders are hard to contain under those circumstances.”

Joe Paton, a teacher at Scared Heart School scored two tries, the regular winger enjoying the chance to play closer to the action at breakaway, while Bodycott who played five-eighth crossed for the other and Aaron Kemp booted all three conversions.

Bodycott was impressed with the performances of several of his

teammates who refused to give in despite staring a big deficit in the face at halftime.

“Alex Ingold is improving week in week out and was great for us in the second row, while Isaac Mitchell played really well at hooker,” Bodycott said.

“His time in first grade will come.

“James Phillips was solid at

halfback but can’t train as he travels back from Canberra each week, and Dave Hoey and Scott Carter looked dangerous at times in the centres.