QUEANBEYAN Kangaroos reserves coach and captain Peter Hunt admitted his suspension had been a distraction for his men, after they went down 42-16 against the Queanbeyan Blues on August 31.
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They were clearly out-enthused by their cross-town rivals in the preliminary final, as the Blues piled on eight tries, with all four try-scorers collecting doubles, but Hunt said had he still been able to play, his team's structure would have put on a much better performance.
Hunt was stood down two weeks ago after his side's minor semi-final win against the Gungahlin Bulls at Goulburn Workers Arena.
His side sung their team song outside of the grandstand, after being unable to access their dressing room, but with the song featuring offensive language, they had an official complaint lodged against them.
The Canberra Region Rugby League proceeded to fine the Kangaroos club $1000 and stand down Hunt, who as captain, was reported to have instigated the team song.
An appeal was made to the Country Rugby League by the Kangaroos, which thought it's penalty was too harsh compared with other incidents throughout the season, and also cited other incidents of offensive language at the Goulburn game that were left unpunished.
But with the appeal only attended to this week, Hunt said the uncertainty of whether he would play or not took its toll.
"It's no excuse, but it's disappointing, it makes things hard, and we'll hopefully come back bigger and better next year," he said.
"We had a few lapses in concentration, but I don't think the scoreboard reflected what it should have. But that's footy."
Hunt said in the game itself his men conceded too many penalties, and were forced to defend too much to give themselves a shot at victory.
"We didn't fight like we normally do, we didn't respect the football, and the Blues, being the side they are, they capitalise every time they get a chance," he said.