Six and a half months after breaking Forbes’ hearts in the 2016 Blowes Clothing Cup decider Orange Emus dished the Platypi another dose of defeat at Endeavour Oval on Saturday, but this time the greens did it in far more emphatic fashion.
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In a game which never reached the lofty standards expected of a grand final rematch Emus walked over the Platypi in a 10-tries-to-two shellacking, eventually running out 62-20 winners.
Although Emus were buoyed by a lopsided penalty count - it did even out late in the game - and mercurial Forbes halfback Mahe Fangupo being sent off 60 minutes in, the greens' class shined through as they piled on 45 second half points to win.
"I think we had the game well under control by the time Mahe was sent off," Emus coach Paul Ringland said, the scoreline was 29-13 at that point.
"It didn't help Forbes though, that's for sure. I think they were a bit light on personnel and I'm sure that's not the performance we'll see from them later in the season either.
"But we're still very, very pleased with that result, that kind of win."
Light on personnel is right, Forbes coach Heamani Lavaka said. He didn't shy away from the fact his side was outclassed though.
"I think that was a big, big wake up call for us. We may well be still battling a bit of a hangover from last year's effort, making the grand final. We need to move on from that and get back to playing the rugby we want to be playing," he said.
"The big problem for us was our one-on-one tackles, we didn't make them. They rolled through the middle and made easy metres.
"We lost our fullback in the warm-up and our No.8 in the first five minutes or so, it just wasn't our day and it was Emus'."
Those easy metres came, predominantly, from Emus centres Lachie Harris and Carter Hirini.
Both were spectacular in the win, the former scoring two tries and eating metres and the latter playing a hand in several of the greens' tries before grabbing one himself in the 70th minute.
"Lachie Harris was the stand-out for me, his carries through that middle channel of the field were very, very strong," Ringland said.
"Carter was great at outside centre too, our whole forward pack was strong and I was very impressed with AJ Sykes at No.10 as well."
There was promising signs for Forbes though, particularly in the early stages which Ringland labelled "a real arm wrestle".
Forbes enjoyed the better of the first 15 minutes before opening the scoring with a penalty goal, kicked by hooker Jarrod Hall.
He nailed another in the 21st minute to extend his side's lead to six as uncharacteristic errors from the greens continued to gift Forbes possession.
Then the Platypi started kicking. A lot.
Looking for field position, Forbes continually kicked between the 25th and 35th minutes. It was a move which gifted Emus ball and ultimately backfired on the Platypi as the greens scored thrice in the back end of the opening half, through sheer weight of possession.
Andrew Selwood scored the first try of the game on the back of Hirini's lead-up work. He displayed an obscene side-step to beat three defenders before popping to Selwood, who waltzed over.
Nigel Staniforth missed the kick, the first of several misses in a wayward day for the sharpshooter. He kicked at just 60 per cent.
Then Al Hattersley crossed - again on the back of Hirini's work - and Sykes scored Emus' third in a length-of-the-field movement after a Harris line-break. Staniforth kicked one of the two, giving Emus a 17-6 lead at half-time.
Forbes knocked on from the restart, signalling what was to come for the side in the second stanza as Harris scored his first just two minutes later.
Then Emus prop Michael Graham found some space, carrying three over the line to score. Finally Forbes maintained some possession and, encouragingly for the Platypi, scored almost immediately through Andrew Hubbard.
Then Fangupo was sensationally red carded.
After receiving yellow for a deliberate knock down Fangupo looked to have expressed his disagreement to referee Richard Madden, who immediately changed the card to red as a result.
After he went off, Emus promptly ran in another 33 points.
Tom Goolagong, Tom Green and Hirini all scored while Harris and Selwood completed their doubles too.
Cam Bennett scored on the bell for Forbes, but it was merely a consolation try.
While it's the kind of win the greens wanted from the grand final rematch, Ringland conceded it's also one which could breed complacency considering Forbes' standing last season.
He's confident his troops can handle that though.
"They're a pretty ground bunch of guys," he said.
"I don't think they'll get too carried away with it. They know Forbes weren't at their best, and we've also got a lot of competition coming through the lower grades so the first XV players know they have to continue performing. I think we'll be okay in that regard."
ORANGE EMUS 62 (Lachie Harris 2, Andrew Selwood 2, Al Hattersley, AJ Sykes, Michael Graham, Tom Goolagong, Tom Green, Carter Hirini tries; Nigel Staniforth 6 goals) def FORBES PLATYPI 20 (Andrew Hubbard, Cam Bennett tries; Jarrod Hall 2 goals, 2 pens)