The Tenterfield Bumblebees were taught a lesson by the Ballina Seahorses on Saturday for their Far North Coast President's Cup fixture.
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Bees coach Phil Jones said his side were out-muscled up front.
When we did have ball, our backs I thought were better but you have got to more than 30 per cent of the ball to win those sort of games.
- Phil Jones
"I don't know why they haven't won more games but they haven't been losing by much, he said.
"They were just a better side than us on the day.
"They just shut us down, they had a lot more possession, when we did have possesion they turned it over in the rucks and mauls for us.
"We didn't contest our breakdowns strong enough.
"We would clean out but we didn't have enough bodies there and they were pushing us off the ball.
"They gave us a lesson, it is the first time our forwards have really been tested and they got on top of us."
The Bees were beaten 23-12.
Jones said experience played a part with the Ballina forwards managing to dominate Tenterfield.
The Seahorses managed to keep their hands on teh ball which paid dividends.
"These fellas had a bit of age in there but they certainly knew what they were doing," Jones said.
"They just starved us of ball.
"When we did have the ball, our backs I thought were better but you have got to more than 30 per cent of the ball to win those sort of games.
"We got a little bit of a lesson at the breakdown, we just didn't compete enough.
"They scored a couple of pushover tries and that was the difference in the game."
While it wasn't the result they wanted it was a silver lining of sorts.
Given the Bees are only in their second year of the Far North Coast competition with a host of players who haven't played rugby union before, there is still plenty to learn.
Jones is hoping his squad will turn up to the training paddock to bridge the gap in their game plan because he believes they could challenge for the title if they play to their potential.
"Just need to get to training with numbers so we can go through and work on those plays," he said.
"We have got to play them again twice down there so we are going to have to address the issues otherwise we will lose our spot in the top four.
"We are not far off the money but we just need to get to training and put what we are doing at training in the game."
With the coming June long weekend, the competition will take a break before resuming the following week.
The next test for the Bees will be against the formidable Evans River Killer Wales at Federation Park on June 15.
