It was always going to take teams around the country some time to come to grips with changes to rugby's tackling laws and never was that more clear at Parkes' Spicer Oval on Saturday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The New Holland Cup season opener between the Parkes Boars and Dubbo Rhinos felt like it had "a penalty a minute" and finished in a 22-all draw.
Rhinos coach Graham Conn was trying to stay positive despite having chances to win the game, but he admitted his side's tackling needs to get up to speed.
The change, announced by Rugby Australia in December of last year, means any contact above the bottom of the sternum is now considered a high tackle.
The decision was made in a bid to eliminate head contact from the sport.
"I wouldn't be surprised if it was a penalty a minute and that was always going to be the case, I think, adapting to the new tackle law," Conn said.
"When guys get tired the technique suffers and you can get above the base of the sternum and referees have been told to really crack down on that from the word go.
"I don't think we did anything horrific, there were no really bad tackles, but there were certainly some that got up into that red zone."
One of the hardest things for Conn during pre-season has been trying to get players to change the way they've been tackling for their entire careers.
"All the defensive coaching that's been coming through from the elite level the last few years was about wrapping up the ball and now you've got to get down below the ball," he said.
"The bloke on your inside goes low and the outside guy goes high on the ball and now you can't do that.
"Probably, the sides that adapt the best will get more wins than not."
That being said, the two cards the Rhinos received weren't solely for high shots.
All-round discipline was an issue for the Dubbo side, as was technique around the ruck from the forward pack.
"We haven't won at Parkes in the three years I've been involved so it's hard to come home disappointed and some would say you should be happy with that draw," Conn said.
"But we had chances to win the game and we didn't take them.
"We've got to be more efficient, particularly at the ruck. We conceded quite a few turnovers and it was just messy ball so our backs didn't get a great deal of opportunities because of that."
When the backs did get the ball, the potential was clear to see.
Both wingers, Jett Lane and Corey Parker, scored tries and earned praise from the coach.
The other player singled out was Englishman Angus Thomson, who scored a try and performed well at No. 8 in his debut for the club.
"He was always on the ball and he had a few good line breaks and grabbed a try," Conn said of Thomson.
The Rhinos will host the highly-regarded Mudgee next Saturday. The Wombats showed plenty of promise in a 36-12 win over Narromine in round one.
"I don't necessarily think it (Parkes result) is the one that got away, but we'll certainly look back on it and hopefully it doesn't come back to bite us later in the season."