If the West Belconnen Warriors were a race horse, they'd be Chautauqua.
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Unfortunately not the Chautauqua that won three straight TJ Smith Stakes, which used to be the grand final for sprinters, but the Chautauqua that was forced to retire because it wouldn't leave the barriers.
Their slow starts look like ending their season, but coach Adam Peters is hopeful they can string four straight wins together to sneak into the top four.
But giving up three tries in the opening 10 minutes of a 32-26 loss to the Queanbeyan Kangaroos at Kippax on Sunday has put their Canberra Raiders Cup finals hopes in a precarious position.
At the risk of drawing the ire of the stewards, maybe Peters needs to take a jigger - or taser - into the sheds before the game.
That could provide the spark his team needs to get out of the blocks.
But it might be too late for the Warriors given the win has cemented the Kangaroos' spot in the top four.
They've moved to 19 competition points - five clear of the Warriors with the sand quickly running out of the hourglass.
But Peters is living by the adage of where there's life there's hope for as long as they can remain in the dreaded mathematically possible zone.
"Now we've got to rely on other people's results. We needed to win today and we needed to win our last four games and we probably would've been assured of making the finals," he said.
"I don't know what's happening. Whether I have to change the warm-up or whatever, but it's just slow starts.
"Every week we're behind by three tries and then we kick into gear."
On the flipside, the Kangaroos' win has buoyed coach Aaron Gorrell, especially since he's chopped and changed his line-up to find a winning combination with players playing out of position.
He's got a hooker in the halves, a centre in the second row, a second-rower in the middle and a fullback in the centres.
But it's working for Gorrell and the Kangaroos, who themselves had concerns about their finals hopes just a few weeks ago.
"We had a lot of blokes that hadn't played a lot of footy together and our combinations were never going to happen straight away," he said.
"We had a few injuries and we've chopped and changed where different blokes are playing as well.
"I think we've probably found the right combinations that work for us.
"That mightn't particularly work for that individual, it mightn't be his preferred position, but we've got a crew that are playing for each other now."
Gorrell was full of praise for one of those guys who's had to switch jersey numbers for the good of the team.
Although he was full of praise for his whole team as well and not just Lachlan Ingram.
Having lost Lachlan Cooper to the Queensland Cup, Ingram has switched from hooker into the halves.
It's a switch Ingram has the perfect mentor for with Gorrell having made the shift himself during a career that's included 60 NRL games.
"It can be [hard to move from hooker to the halves], it's pretty easy once off, but doing it week-in, week-out defensively it's a lot different defending on an edge and you're making most of the big calls for the side as well," Gorrell said.
"Your vision of the game's a lot different as well. At nine you've got your blinkers on and can only see what's in front of you, whereas on an edge you've got to look at at least half the field."
AT A GLANCE
Queanbeyan Kangaroos 32 (L Ingram, N Ngere, K Pagura, F Tonga, D Watt, T Williams tries; Ingram 4 goals) bt West Belconnen Warriors 26 (A McDonald 2, J Roberts, R Roberts, B Withers tries; R Roberts 3 goals)