The Parkes Spacemen will have to do it the hard way if they want to win the 2023 Peter McDonald Premiership (PMP).
Playing in Mudgee last Sunday, the Spacemen were 15 minutes away from a week off and a Major Semi-final appearance, when leading the highly-fancied Dragons 20-6.
A plethora of mistakes then crept into the Spacemen's game and Mudgee didn't need to be asked twice as they scored four unanswered tries to land a come-from-behind 28-20 win in the Qualifying final.
"I don't know if we were doing a bit of scoreboard watching or not, but we switched off and couldn't do anything right, and we let it slip away," Parkes coach Chad Porter said.
"We made a lot of errors and couldn't get out of our own half, and it came back to bite us in the end.
"It was disappointing, and after the game, everyone was down in the dumps. But we've forgotten about that and we're on to the next challenge of playing Wello (Wellington) at home this weekend."
The loss doesn't end their campaign, but Parkes now play the enigmatic Wellington Cowboys in an all-Group 11 Elimination final at Pioneer Oval on Sunday (27 August).
"We earned the right to have that second chance," Porter said.
"We did well all season and finished in the top four, and now it's just a matter of getting back to what we did there in the first half against Mudgee.
"We'll be out to complete our sets and come out hard, but we need to do that for 80 minutes."
Wellington on their day can be one of the best teams in the competition.
The Justin Toomey-White coached outfit won their way into the second week of finals following a decisive 30-16 victory over Bathurst St Pats in their Elimination final at Kennard Park on Saturday.
In the second PMP Elimination final scheduled for Sunday, Orange Hawks host the Bathurst Panthers in a Group 10 showdown at Wade Park.
Similar to Parkes, Orange will be using their second chance after falling to the Dubbo CYMS 28-6 in their Qualifying final at Apex Oval on Sunday.
It won't be easy, and Alex Prout's men take on a Jake Betts-coached Panthers outfit full of confidence following their 32-12 win over the Nyngan Tigers in their Elimination final at Carrington Park on Sunday.
For Peter McDonald Premiership results and draws: Click here
