Saturday's Group 10 opener against Orange Hawks was always going to be a tough match but Lithgow Workies Wolves put in their all despite a 26-8 defeat.
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The tough contest saw Hawks open the scoring but within five minutes the Wolves hit back scoring their own try at Tony Luchetti Sportsground.
Coach Graeme Osborne was impressed with how his side played in the opening round.
"I think they did alright actually with everything that's happened, I mean Orange and Bathurst had written us off but we have put four sides forward this year and that is a credit to our club, committee and players," he said.
While the result wasn't what Osborne was after, there were still plenty of positives to take from the contest.
"We had plenty of opportunities to score but a bad pass or dodgy calls meant we couldn't get the try but we were just unlucky really," he said.
"There are lots of positives to take from the match and the boys enthusiasm was great."
Osborne said the second half was much like the first, but the Wolves tried to make sure that the Hawks didn't run away with the win.
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"With all the hype surrounding the Hawks, they probably didn't do as well as expected, we stuck to our guns and if we'd have gotten a couple of bounces the score board would be different...I'm not saying we would have won but the final score would have been closer," he said.
The coach recognises that five tries to two does show the Hawks were the more dominant side.
"It was a typical Hawks game and Willie Heta scored two of the tries and just stole the play," Osborne said.
As for his side, 'big' Greg Alderson was a stand out as well as Brock Egan who had his first game in first grade.
"Ryan Bilby also came back after playing a year in the Bears side, and we had Harry Hopkins who was a storm junior but then went and played in Windsor and now he is back and playing with us; he really had a big game at the back," he said.
"It was a tough first match but we have plenty to build on and it's going to be a good season."
The Workies Wolves will now play at home against the Mudgee Dragons this Sunday.
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