Darwin Buffaloes come from behind win over Palmerston proof they are made of the right stuff

BUFFALOES assistant coach Richard Russell is convinced the double blue jumpers are on the right track despite their Houdini escape against bottom side Palmerston

Brayden Culhane was one of the Buffaloes’ best in the win over Palmerston. Picture: GLENN CAMPBELL

BUFFALOES assistant coach Richard Russell is convinced the double blue jumpers are on the right track despite their Houdini escape against bottom side Palmerston on Friday night.

The Buffaloes had to double their score in the last quarter to come from 26 points down at the last change and win their third game in a row.

But Russell, in charge in an off-field capacity while senior coach Matt Campbell filled his playing commitments, was pleased with what he saw in the last quarter.

“I pretty much told the guys we needed more numbers around the ball in that last quarter after not getting to the contest first in the first three quarters,’’ he said.

“Our intensity wasn’t there as well and the guys picked that up when it was needed. You could see the results in the last quarter when we were able to turn things around.’’

Russell paid credit to Palmerston for turning the game into a hard slog with the Jerry Frank Memorial trophy up for grabs.

“The fact that, in the end we’ve won our third game in a row and were good enough to get back into the match, shows we are on the right track,’’ he added.

“We showed some really good signs in last week’s win over Waratah and coming into this game we were confident we could carry that on, even if we did it tough.

“But we’ve got a big one next week over on the islands against Tiwi, so we’ll have to be switched on for that one.’’

The Buffaloes were missing big spearhead Daniel Stafford, who they decided to rest for the game.

“That might have been a little bit cheeky giving him a rest this week when it almost came back to bite us,’’ Russell said.

“But he’ll be back next week and that will be a handy inclusion for the trip to the islands.’’

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