Grand final heartache: No consolation in finishing second

The disappointment on the face of Gunnedah Bulldogs coach Sean Hayne was palpable after his team faltered in the biggest occasion on the Group 4 rugby league calendar.

The 32-16 grand final loss to Moree last Sunday was the second time Hayne coached the Bulldogs to a defeat in a decider, with the previous occasion occurring in 2018 when North Tamworth prevailed 34-28.

Some of Hayne’s comments after this year’s decider resembled things he had said after several of Gunnedah’s other contests this year.

“We let ourselves down again,” he said.

“We didn’t move off the line at certain stages, we let them get a roll-on, (and we) had a few opportunities that we didn’t take (when the) ball went to ground or into touch or we dropped it.”

Hayne said there were no excuses, while the Boars deserved to win.

“They were way better than us today,” he said.

“They took their opportunities, they defended well, (and) kept turning us back.

“They were by far the better team.”

Hayne said “the effort was there” from the Bulldogs but that “the execution wasn’t”.

“As I’ve said all year, you can’t give good teams that much ball and expect to be in the game,” he said.

“Today they took advantage of the majority of their chances…any time they got down our end or could make a break they had plenty of support.

“Their defensive line had plenty of line speed and pressure.”

Hayne said “you make your own luck” and that the Bulldogs didn’t make any luck for themselves, “which comes through a lot of our effort plays”.

Although the Bulldogs reached the decider after missing last year’s play-offs, it was of scant consolation to Hayne who said “no one plays to finish second”.

“I’d count it as a disappointing year,” he said.

“In some respects I’d rather not play in a grand final than be there and lose it.

“(It was) just a very disappointing way to finish the year…We had a chance today and we didn’t make the most of it.

“Next year you start from scratch again.”

Hayne said he was yet to think about next year, including whether or not he planned to continue coaching.