Sometimes the line separating the highs and lows of sport is remarkably thin, and so it was last weekend for the Goulburn Bears men who played one of their worst games and one of their best back-to-back.
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![On court: The Goulburn Bears Youth League men's team experienced all the highs and lows sport has to offer in just two days. Photo: Goulburn Bears. On court: The Goulburn Bears Youth League men's team experienced all the highs and lows sport has to offer in just two days. Photo: Goulburn Bears.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/ijfQKXbsEKgSKGW5xB5NiF/fa03bb9d-a565-4417-ae03-fa9b467f316c.jpg/r54_182_1440_992_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Goulburn's Youth League side has been mercurial throughout the year, and struggled in the lead-up to last Saturday's match against the Shoalhaven Tigers.
The team was poor at training during the week, and carried that flatness into the match, which they lost 84-47.
But after a talk from team coach, Eddie Teague, the side traveled to Queanbeyan on Sunday and put on one of their best performances of the year to win 76-65.
"Saturday wasn't a real good one, we got beat at Shoalhaven but the boys rallied back on Sunday and got their second win of the year," Teague said.
"I felt the maturity of Bailey Stewart and Riley Weekes really stood up for us on Sunday, they're our team captains. They led by example and even though it was hard fought, the boys had control most of the way."
In order to keep the possibility of a top four spot alive, Goulburn had to win against Queanbeyan and put on its best performance of the year when it mattered most.
"We talked about it after the [loss on Saturday], we said we travel to Queanbeyan the next day and to have a shot at staying in the top four we need to beat them," Teague said.
"They responded well and showed a bit of maturity and that's what they have to do."
At the start of the season, Teague was aware that, due to his side's youth, they would struggle against the older and more experienced teams in the competition.
Instead of aiming for wins, his goal was to see improvement from the Bears players week in, week out.
With the exception of Saturday, Teague said the team has so far met his expectations.
"We certainly were [improving] up until Saturday's game, and I spoke about that afterwards because I felt we went backwards during that game," he said.
"Certainly Sunday gave me the indication that we have improved. It was one of their better games."
One of the characteristics of Goulburn's team is its reliance on confidence. When riding a wave of good form, the players hardly miss a basket, but when the going is tough, they struggle.
The biggest challenge for the young side is to narrow the gap between their best form and worst form, Teague said.
"Our guys are all confidence guys, we've just got to develop that consistency," he said.
"The only way to rectify that is to train really hard, and the boys have all been doing that, I can't fault them."
With a bye scheduled for this weekend, the Bears will spend the next fortnight preparing for their sternest challenge of the year.
On Saturday, May 29, Goulburn will face the top-ranked Inner West Bulls White in Goulburn from 6pm.
"We play the top team next match," Teague said.
"When they played Sutherland, they won by 40 points. If we don't play as well as we can, we'll get a belting as well. But that's the way it is, sometimes the Sydney teams are a bit stronger and a bit bigger."
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