Although he scored their opening try and laid on the second for Chris Grevsmuhl, Orange CYMS player-coach Mick Sullivan is shouldering the blame for his side’s Group 10 premier league qualifying final loss to Hawks on Sunday afternoon.
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When asked where he thought the real difference was in the game, which the two blues won 22-12 in artic conditions at Wade Park, Sullivan quickly and succinctly said “it’s on me”.
“I had a stinker, and when your pivot plays like that it sets the tone a bit, it’s disappointing,” Sullivan said.
“I’ve assured the boys it won’t happen again, another performance like that.”
Sullivan admitted Hawks were “just too good” on Sunday afternoon, but made sure to mention his green and golds were well below their best in the 10-point defeat.
They fell 18-nil behind in the opening half and although they outscored Hawks three tries to one in the second period, the job was simply too big for them to get done.
Sullivan pointed to a Willie Heta penalty goal in the 37th minute that extended Hawks’ lead to 14, and Jordan Baker’s try two minutes later as the decisive moments.
“That try definitely hurt,” Sullivan said.
“Fourteen down I think we might’ve been able to claw back but I think 18 was a bit too much, we were pretty flat and just didn't turn up, Hawks rolled over us in that first half.
“It’s a week-to-week prospect for us now, there’s only next week,” Sullivan said, his side now hosts Bathurst Panthers in the minor semi-final.
“We’ve got the second chance but maybe earning it took a toll on us physically, I’m not sure, but we were flat. From all accounts Panthers were very, very good [on Saturday night] so we’ll just have to be a lot better than we were [on Sunday].
“It’s disappointing from the team’s perspective and personally … that was probably my worst performance for a long, long time.”
CYMS were a battered bunch following Sunday's game and despite Semisi Tupou and Kyle Fraser staying down at different parts of the game, Sullivan said the side’s only real injury concern is Grevsmuhl.
The former NRL star has been somewhat plagued by rib and hamstring injuries this season and the latter looked to have flared up in the later stages, he came from the field visibly limping.