AT half-time in Sunday's Group 10 under 18s league tag match, with her side trailing St Pat's 20-0, Bathurst Panthers coach Jess Hotham asked her players to take a deep breath.
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She told them to forget what had happened and to focus on the basics. They were words which inspired a brilliant comeback.
When the full-time siren sounded instead of walking off Carrington with a heavy defeat - as had looked likely - Panthers were instead 28-26 victors.
Hotham was shocked, delighted and proud.
"We were down 20-0 at half-time so I thought it could have been a bit of a whitewash. With the start that they had and that most of the girls had never played before, it wouldn't say it was expected, but I thought it was going to go down that path a little bit," Hotham admitted.
"Because they hadn't played together before, I think they went out there in panic mode. I think they were thinking 'We've got to do this and we've got to do that'. If we got the ball we'd knock it on, we were just doing really silly stuff.
"I think they just got a little bit flustered, so all I said to them at half-time was 'Girls, I want you all to take a deep breath. Let's just refocus on what we've done and training and let's just go back to basics. Catching, passing, playing the ball properly, tagging - just focus on that.'"
The Saints outfit, which had a number of under 16s filling in, were able to capitalise on the errors of their rivals in the opening half. They both found space on the wings as they spread the ball wide and stepped their way through the middle.
When the Saints scored early in the second half they looked well in control, but momentum swung.
"After we scored our first we kind of went on with it. Our defence was amazing, we just started tagging," Hotham said.
"There wasn't long left when we got in front, I think there was maybe a minute 30, maybe less. I was jumping up and down, I was screaming, I was just so happy for them."
While the comeback in the season-opener was remarkable, part of Hotham's elation at full-time also had to do with the evolution of the Panthers side from game one in 2019.
Last season they suffered some hefty defeats, but they listened to and learned from their coach and the improvement came.
"The very first game they played last year we got absolutely flogged, I think it was about 70-0 or something. So to me it was more than just a win, to build up from last year and this year, I was just so proud of them, I was so happy," she said.
"It was a look to where we've gotten to type feeling. I think it was like we went, 'We actually know how to play now'.
"Hopefully we can build on that at training and we'll see how we go. I've got the girls there to do it, I always knew I did. I can see the individual talent, and I see when it's all put together, I've just got to build it."
Panthers host Mudgee, who lost their season-opener 44-0 to Orange CYMS, at Carrington Park on Sunday.
