As a shattered Tamworth head coach Damian Henry said post-match he didn't see it coming.
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Even St Albert's would probably admit they didn't.
Sure the result, but not the 82-7 opening round drubbing they dished out to the Magpies at Tamworth Rugby Park on Saturday.
It was an emphatic start to their New England title defence and came on the back of a 56-point second half as they ruthlessly cut a 14-man home side apart.
Playing the last five minutes or so with only 13 after running out of substitutes, even with 15 the Magpies probably would have been hard-pressed stopping Albies in the mood that they were in.
Any scrap of a turnover they swooped on and quickly turned into an attacking opportunity, and their pace and footwork did the rest.
"After a turnover we managed to find a lot of space outwide and we really opened up a lot of holes in their defence," captain Mark Green said.
He couldn't have been happier with the result or the performance, particularly the way they were able to keep their structure as the score blew out in the second half.
Bar a period late in the first half, they always seemed on top.
They led from the fifth minute of the game when winger Will Makim - in a sign of what was to come - raced away 50m to score after a promising raid from the Magpies broke down and the students quickly spread the ball wide from the turnover.
Another two quick tries made it 19-nil after 15 minutes.
The Magpies were late in the half eventually able to string some phases together and crossed through second rower Aaron O'Keefe, who had earlier spent 10 minutes in the bin, to trail 26-7 at half-time.
But any momentum they might have had was quickly snuffed out as Albies, as per instruction, "put the pedal to the metal" early in the second half and O'Keefe picked up his second yellow card leaving them down to 14 for the last 33 minutes of the game.
The students took full of advantage with Green and his fellow forwards providing the front foot ball to really exploit their pace outwide.
"We've been working a lot on forward defence and getting up off the line and keeping pressure close to that ruck and it feels like it's really helped us out," he said.
He thought Joe Kennedy in the centres and Sam Greer at No.8 were their best, but also gave a lot of the credit to the front. They were dominant in the scrum, even winning a couple against the feed, which the second rower said was "a great feeling".
Henry couldn't hide his disappointment and said it was a reality check for them.
"I didn't see that coming at all," he admitted.
Especially the second half. He was "quite happy" at half-time.
Acknowledging that Albies were "too good" for them, he felt that they also allowed them to play well through their mistakes and sloppy defence.
"We just missed too many tackles and they killed us at the breakdown," he said.
"Any ball we got they turned us over after two or three phases."
It is, he added, "back to the drawing board" as they prepare for Armidale next week.
The Blues had a win on Saturday, edging Robb 27-22.
