Central West under 14s trainer Marc Jacobs knew his side gave away plenty of size heading into the 2019 NSW Country Junior Rugby Union championship at Tamworth.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
But what they lacked in size they made up for with sheer will to win.
And that desire helped lift the junior Bulls to a breakthrough country championship victory, the under 14s recovering from a 5-0 deficit to claim a 17-5 victory over rivals Central North in the grand final.
"They have such big hearts," Jacobs, from Orange, said of his championship-winning Central West outfit.
The champion side was coached by Mudgee duo Phil English and Angus Wilson.
"We went into the start of the year with a few goals and one of those was winning the country championship," Jacobs continued.
"Another was to have the best scrum in the country, which we had, too. We gave up a lot of size to almost every team we played but the boys have big hearts."
RELATED:
Central West stormed to two relatively easy first-up wins on day one of the championship but stumbled in game three, going down 10-5 against Central North to round out the day.
The baby Bulls ended up second in pool B as a result and were subsequently drawn to play Illawarra in the semi-final on Sunday.
It was a daunting prospect for a lot of the Central West boys, with Illawarra beating this group on every previous occasion the two sides have met.
Sunday's clash proved different though.
There's a bit of a rivalry there ...
- Central West coach Marc Jacobs after his side's decider win over Central North.
Jacobs' boys lifted, knocking off the mighty Illawarra 21-5 before going on to claim the junior championship crown with that 12-point victory over Central North - redemption of sorts following Saturday's earlier loss to the northern outfit.
Jacobs said, to a man, Central West's 23-strong squad aimed up all weekend, particularly in the decider.
"There's a bit of a rivalry there (with Central North)," he added.
"They scored first but our defence was great and we held them out for the rest of the game."
Bathurst's Patty O'Hara was voted as best back in the championship and was joined by five of his Central West teammates in the NSW Country under 14s side.
Noah Brien, Liam Byrnes, Will Cuthill, Drew Hope and Henry Miller are the Central West's other country representatives.
Jacobs said his side's attention now turns to the NSW Junior Rugby Union's under 14s state championship, which will be held at Orange over the June long weekend.
"Hopefully we can knock some of these city boys off," he laughed.