Forbes Magpies proved they've got depth and heart as they ground out a 28-30 win over the Cowboys at Wellington on Sunday, despite having a number of players unavailable through injury and suspension.
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Captain Nick Greenhalgh was elated with the first grade side's first win of their 2024 Peter McDonald Premiership campaign in what would be a tough contest under any circumstances - Wellington on their home ground.
"She was tough but we got it done," Greenhalgh said on Monday.
"The boys dug really deep and I'm really really proud of them."
Magpies had a tough first two rounds, but training was solid and Greenhalgh had every confidence in his squad.
"We had guys stepping in to do a job and really confident," he said.
Ben Maguire is one of those who has returned and was outstanding in Sunday's win, scoring two tries and crucial in defence.
"You know what you're going to get from Benny and he's done a job so hopefully he can take a little bit of form into this weekend as well," Greenhalgh said.
Tom Toohey was another to put in an outstanding effort on Sunday, with the job of marking Wellington star and former NRL player Blake Ferguson.
"He did a tremendous job, he shut him down every time and sort of frustrated Wellington a bit," Greenhalgh said.
"I think all the boys dug really deep and worked for each other, I'm really proud of everyone.
"You had guys like Jake Stenhouse who's captain of reserve grade step up and start in the front row yesterday and did a tremendous job."
The Magpies led 12-10 at half-time and raced away to a 30-10 lead in the second half.
Wellington wasn't going to let it go that easily.
"There were definitely times late in that second half especially we could have been better with ball control, penalties and stuff like that," Greenhalgh acknowledged.
Seaun Stanley Junior and Justin Toomey-White both scored within four minutes and the Cowboys put the pressure on with the encouragement of their home crowd.
A try to Rylee Blackhall with just three minutes on the clock all but closed the gap for Wellington, but the Magpies held on for the win.
"Wello at Wello - when they get their backs up they're really hard to stop so I'm glad we hung on those last five minutes or so," Greenhalgh said.
Magpies return to Spooner Oval to take on Dubbo Macquarie this weekend with their captain's confidence - although they're still missing a few of their options.
Jack Hartwig, Campbell Rubie and Charlie Lennon have been serving suspensions from Round 2.
Jake Grace, who suffered a knee injury against Bathurst Panthers, is a couple of weeks away and Marty Herbert is also carrying an injury.
Magpies will welcome back Tom Hopkins, who's been on holiday, and Jordy Hartwig who missed the Wellington match on a one-week suspension from the Panthers game,
