THE Wiradjuri Googars may not have ended their inaugural Tribal League campaign in memorable fashion but the newly-created side enjoyed their chance to take on the stat's best of the indigenous stars.
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Player shortages meant the Googars were always going to be on the back foot against Newcastle in their last game of the tournament on Saturday, and the class advantage was too much to overcome as they went down 30-0 at Campbelltown.
Googars captain Jeremy Gordon said momentum was against the team before the opening whistle on the weekend.
"Half our team was out because of the Queensland border being closed. They weren't allowing the boys to come down then go back. It was the same for other teams too, like Walgett," he said.
"Over the three weeks I was impressed with all the boys. They played with a lot of pride and passion for their communities. Just at the end the competition broke down."
But the Googars still have good memories to look back on from the three weekends of action across Dubbo, the Central Coast and Campbelltown.
Their opening round win against regional rivals Wellington Castlereagh All Blacks was one of the most closely contested games of the whole competition.
The question now is whether the Tribal League will return for 2021 if the Koori Knockout is back in action.
Regardless of what happens Gordon will always be keen to play.
"We got to play with the best of the best, so you can't really complain about that. This competition was a pretty cool concept. With the knockout you've got over 60 teams and this one was down to six," he said.
"From a player's point of view I really enjoyed it but I guess I'm a bit more of a traditionalist with the Koori Knockout. I don't see that going anywhere. It's about the footy but also about cousins, uncles, fathers and sons playing together. I don't want to see that lost."