Despite being beaten by two points by Richmond Range, Tenterfield Bumblebees coach Pat Herde had nothing negative to say about the round two loss.
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Instead, he was rapt with the effort shown on and off-the-field during the club's first home fixture for the Far North Coast President's Cup season.
"We were down on a lot of regular players but it is just a really good feeling around the club at the moment that they are playing for all the right reasons," he said of the 15-13 loss.
"Even though they went down, the most impressive thing was they held their game together, didn't lose their heads and played for each other.
"Their forwards would have been twice our weight.
"We had these little fellas who played their hearts out that haven't played much footy before but they just did their job for their team.
"It was really impressive I thought."
Herde, who previously played and coached the Goondiwindi Emus, took over from Phil Jones as the Bees' coach this season.
He said the club's culture "really caught his eye" and is what made him put his hand up to get involved.
"I went and watched a few games and I just love the way Jonesy set it up, they set their culture up," he said.
"They just go about things really well as a club.
"For me, I have coached a lot of footy before and, wherever I coached, I couldn't give a shit about what the ladder does - it is more about the way you conduct yourself.
"And, if you do all the right things and operate well as a club, the footy is just a by-product."
Herde lives in Deepwater, has a young family and runs his own business which sometimes makes it difficult to put all his time and energy into coaching.
But he said everyone at the Bumblebees pitches in to make it a success.
"Even just the running of the club, everyone does their bit and that makes it run," he said.
The Bees are scheduled to play Byron Bay in an away fixture this Saturday.
With uncertainty around outbreaks of coronavirus on the coast, Herde isn't sure if they will make the trip.
They are playing it by ear.
"We are just waiting to see what the update is with cases down in Byron," he said.
"That is another thing about the club, they are all about the community.
"They don't want to be the one responsible to bring it back to Tenterfield."