Days after Wagga Vipers' State Cup campaign, it's like an open wound for captain Brocke Argus.
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The open men's team delivered a creditable top-four finish at the prestigious Port Macquarie tournament but the skipper is cursing a missed opportunity.
"I'm not as pleased as I would've been if we had have won it," Argus said.
"We lost (7-3) to the Canberra Magic team. They've obviously got a big population to draw on, but we definitely put in our worst performance of the weekend.
"Momentum is a massive thing in touch... they got the jump on us and we just couldn't reel them back in."
The Vipers were unbeaten through their pool games, topping the group after five wins against Sydney opposition, through a gruelling schedule over the first two days which included back-to-back games with a five-minute break.
Sunday started brightly with an 8-2 win over Bankstown in the elimination final. But by the time they reached the semi-final against Canberra City Magic, Wagga had Tyson McLachlan carrying a hamstring injury and Callum Price and Edan Price both out.
"We ran into a few injuries. That's no excuse but it doesn't help when you want to be playing your best touch," Argus said.
"This year was probably the best chance we've had at it. We had a lot of boys that were in the right age bracket to step up and take control in different areas.
"When you're getting beaten you need people to stand up but we just didn't make the right decisions at the right time unfortunately.
"We didn't go last year but the two years before that we got knocked out in the semi-final in exactly the same way. It's a little bit of a curse I think."
Argus said it was a strong team effort through the preliminary games, which was essential in a tournament involving a five minute break between games. But across the weekend, Wagga Brothers playmaker Dylan McLachlan shone.
"He carried his form from Group Nine into this but everyone played their role," Argus said.
"With five minute breaks between games, players that played well in the first game exerted themselves that much that another lot of players needed to step up in the next one. Everyone did their job well."
