"WE deserved our pants to be pulled down".
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That was the blunt admission from St Pat's captain-coach Zac Merritt as his side suffered a shock 18-16 loss to the Wellington Cowboys on Saturday.
While the Saints are a side tipped to give the Peter McDonald Premiership a real shake this season off the back of some strong recruiting, the Cowboys simply out-enthused Merritt's men at Kennard Park.
"They deserved it, they had a little bit more energy than us," Merritt said.
"I think our minds might have been elsewhere rather than at Wellington and we deserved our pants to be pulled down.
"Like there was no lack of trying, I just thought we were a bit flat. I think we trained a bit flat on Thursday and then we sort of took that into the game.
"We've got to be better than that ... we couldn't get out of that flatness, we couldn't get any spark at all. You've got to respect every team you play, you can't turn up and expect it to be an easy one."
Given St Pat's handed the Cowboys a 46-12 defeat last season and that Wellington only managed one win for its entire 2022 campaign, Merritt's side were certainly favourites for Saturday's match.
But steered around well by new halves combination Jai Merritt, who's made the switch from Macquarie Raiders, and returning junior Rylee Blackhall, the pressure from the Cowboys did not relent.
Their kicking game troubled the Saints with centre Preston Simpson, fullback Tyrone Tattersall and Blackhall all crossing as the Cowboys pushed out to an 18-10 lead.
However, the Saints were the next to score and as centre Matt Beattie nailed the conversion, the margin was back to two.
It gave St Pat's a sniff and Merritt's side lifted as they looked to pull off a come from behind win on a day when they weren't at their best.
All they needed was a third Beattie goal or a try to add to those scored by Beattie, Hayden Bolam and Jackson Brien.
As the clock ticked down the Saints were deep in Wellington's territory and had created an overlap, but the wrong option was taken and the hosts held on.
"Thirty seconds left and we put a little kick through and hoped for the best and didn't come off," Merritt said.
"We got down their end - we were full of running at the end - but a play right at the end we kicked instead of putting it through the hands and catching them out.
"We should've kept it and passed it and I think we probably score in the corner, but that's footy and we'll build on that.
"What we'll take out of it is that we kept fighting until the end."
Though disappointed his side couldn't snatch a late win as they'd done the previous week against Nyngan, Merritt is confident they will have not dramas with intensity come next Saturday's local derby.
"Panthers are coming off two big losses and we're coming off a loss, so it will be all guns blazing for both teams I'd say. That's what you want - maybe our heads were there today instead of thinking about Wellington," he said.
"But take nothing away from Wello, they got us. It was exactly like last year, they kept coming, and this year they've got a couple of halves there that can steer the ship.
"They've got my little cousin there Jai Merritt and Rylee Blackhall, he's just come back from Yass. They were good.
"They scored a few tries off kicks and credit to them."
- WELLINGTON COWBOYS 18 (Preston Simpson, Tyrone Tattersall, Rylee Blackhall tries; Rylee Blackhall 3 goals) defeated ST PAT'S 16 (Jackson Brien, Hayden Bolam, Matt Beattie tries; Matt Beattie 2 goals)
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