Against Forbes, the last place you want to be is in an arm wrestle.
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That's exactly what the Platypi want because, usually, with Mahe Fangupo pulling the strings from halfback it allows their powerful pack to take control of proceedings and promptly grind opposition teams into submission.
An injury-hit Orange Emus outfit found themselves in that exact situation on a glum day at Grinsted Oval on Saturday afternoon so you can understand why coach Pete Bromley was stoked, and almost relieved, to not just escape with a win but do so with a bonus point as well.
As you'd expect from that grind the clash never reached any great heights and was as dour an affair as you'll see, but the slippery conditions and powerful breeze had plenty to do with that as well.
Emus' determined defensive effort running into that breeze during an error-laden first-half was much of the reason they left fortress Grinsted with the chocolates too, despite being down to 14 after Cody Perrott was sin-binned the round 11 clash remained deadlocked at 5-all at the break.
The greens hit the lead for the first time straight after the break when hooker Charlie Henley sniffed out a rare front-rower's intercept try, although the home side hit back not long after while Emus were again down a man, this time Louis Carr was shown yellow.
Captain-coach Jack Hammond crossed for that try, finishing one of the game's few scintillating passages of play that began with a deft Fangupo box kick over Emus' line.
But with his side still leading 12-10 Carr returned to the fray and with that ledger squared up the greens turned on the after-burners, running over the Platypi in the final stages.
They added another two tries in the dying stages, with Lachie Harris scoring and Henley barging over for his second on the stroke of full-time, Nigel Staniforth kicking the latter conversion after the siren to secure a 24-10 victory.
"They didn't let us get in our groove and it was a real arm wrestle but the guys did a good job to stay in the fight and come out the other end," Emus coach Pete Bromley said.
"I said it after round one, but whenever you come to Grinsted Oval and walk away with a win and a bonus point you have to be happy with it, defensively our guys were very good."
Bromley was impressed with Staniforth's effort considering he'd shifted into five-eighth, although he's played plenty of rugby in the No.10 jumper there's no denying he's best-placed in the centres or at fullback.
"Defensively the guys were very good, and individually Sam McLean was outstanding, Simon Badgery was great again and Nigel (Staniforth) did a good job going into five-eighth because of the injuries we've got," Bromley said.
Hammond was pretty succinct after the defeat. Pleased with the performance for the most part, he conceded his side just didn't take advantage when Emus were down a man, nor did they finish the chances they had outside that.
"When we were trying to take our chances we probably overplayed our hand a little bit I think," he lamented.
"They were down to 14 twice and we had them on the ropes a couple of times we just couldn't finish off. The boys were really motivated for this one because we had a big crowd and we wanted to put on a show, I think we did that we just weren't quite there."
While Emus remain in second and stay in touch with competition leaders Bathurst Bulldogs, who handed Dubbo Kangaroos a 40-12 hammering on Saturday, Forbes remain fifth.
While they're still just one bonus point win shy of the fourth-placed Roos, Hammond admitted if his side wants to feature in the post-season, their run needs to start next weekend against Cowra.
"It's alright, there's a lot to take from it and we're not quite out of touch yet. We're still not that far behind Dubbo, but it's starting to look like we're definitely going to have to win a couple of our away games in the last few weeks if we want a top four spot," he said.
- ORANGE EMUS 24 (Charlie Henley 2, Lachie Harris, Simon Badgery tries; Nigel Staniforth 2 conversions) def FORBES PLATYPI 10 (Josh Coulthurst, Jack Hammond tries)