Mudgee Dragons might have taken the win on Sunday but Forbes Magpies captain Nick Greenhalgh could only be happy with his side's performance.
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"They're a good side and they're the benchmark in the competition," he said.
Magpies did concede a couple of easy tries but they also scored some good ones and the full time scoreboard was just 16-22 in favour of the visitors who sit on top of the ladder.
"We stayed in the fight with them for the full 80 and I'm sure they would have known they played a game of footy on Sunday," Greenhalgh said.
"It was pretty brutal out there and I believe if the boys play half as good as we did on Sunday we'll be hard to compete with in the next five rounds."
The Forbes side were coming home with a point to prove after disappointing themselves against the Tigers at Nyngan.
"We wanted our attitude to be right and I believe it was pretty excellent on the weekend," Greenhalgh said.
"When we play the the good sides our attitude, our energy, our talk, our defence is really good.
"We need to work on bringing that energy every single week no matter who we play and stringing good performances together."
The Magpies have a welcome bye this weekend before two away games - back to back trips to Dubbo to take on Macquarie and CYMS.
Fans will be pleased they've then got a run of home games from Saturday July 28, hosting Parkes, Lithgow and Wellington.
While he's ready for a weekend off - and he's pretty sure most of the team is feeling the same after the Mudgee battle - Greenhalgh's focus is turning to those contests with hopes of securing a place in the top four.
Magpies are sixth on the ladder with 11 points, but Parkes, Orange CYMS, Dubbo CYMS and Bathurst are all on 14 points. Mudgee Dragons hold top place with 18 points.
And it looks like coach Cameron Greenhalgh will have a full strength squad to select from for that campaign: Magpies first graders have been returning from early suspensions and injuries over the past couple of weeks - Jake Grace noted coming off the bench on the weekend after a knee injury.
"I'm not too sure what the make up of the side will be in a couple of weeks but (Dad) has everyone to pick from," Nick said.
The weekend's strong showing could present the best kind of headache when it comes to selection.
"Campbell Rubie impressed me again (against Mudgee) - he was good the weekend before in Nyngan, he got player's player - and again on the weekend he was outstanding," Greenhalgh said.
"And Jack Hartwig ... all the middle took it personally against the pretty highly rated Mudgee pack so I thought Jack was outstanding.
"But most of the boys really turned up on the weekend, we just fell a little bit short in a couple of areas but we weren't far off. If that's the benchmark then I believe we'll be there in the end."
