The Northern Jets gave their all but, in the end, simply couldn’t hold back the tide as a spirited season came to an end at the hands of East Wagga-Kooringal.
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But they went down the way they’ve played all season, showing plenty of heart and courage.
“I couldn’t be prouder of the boys throughout the year,” Robinson said.
“I think today we busted our arses but we were beaten by a better side. Their big fellas played well – Hully was unbelievable – and we had a couple of blows.”
That was the absence of Chris Bell (fatherhood), Luke McLoughlin (illness), Jeromy Lucas (GWS) and Jack Fisher playing on one leg.
Mitch Haddrill had a thousand touches but was given little room to move by the Hawks, and Alex Rogers did all he could to keep them in the game.
While Connor Donoghue and Alex Passlow epitomised the Jets’ effort all year.
In fact, the Hawks effectively had to take a leaf out of their opponent’s book to overturn the result at Gumly earlier in the year, relying on all 21 players to get them to victory.
It was small consolation but a point of pride for Robinson.
“I said to the boys that Sam Fisher, Alex Rogers, Mitch Haddrill were really good every week but our improvement’s come from our bottom 10 players,” he said.
“We had a bloke today, Alex Passlow, who’s been named emergency the past five weeks and he debuted today because he’s been screaming ‘pick me, pick me, pick me’ doing all the right things, so.
“It’s disappointing not to make finals but hopefully we can stick together and have a decent crack next year.”
The Jets – who lost plenty of experience after last season – finished with seven wins and nine losses and cursing a handful of those in just single figures.
