Blake Clout cut a battered and bloody, but pleased, if not relieved, figure after leading Tamworth to a second straight Reconciliation Round win on Saturday.
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Their first for the season, speaking post-match, his face blood-stained courtesy of a cut above his right eye and looking every bit the warrior he was, the Magpies skipper said it felt "unreal" to get the result.
Getting the win 46-14 in the corresponding game last year, Saturday was a much tougher grind with the Magpies sneaking home 43-31.
The final 12 point margin doesn't quite do justice to how tight a game it was.
Barbarians really took it to them, and for large parts of the game were probably the better team.
Particularly in the first half they made the running, dominating territory and possession and playing some free-flowing rugby to lead 21-7 at the break.
That then segued into a see-sawing second half that had the crowd on the edge of their seats to the final whistle.
Guilty of being a bit passive and making simple errors in the first half, the change in the Magpies was almost immediate in the second half, and they struck three minutes in through Kelby McLean.
Playing with a lot more urgency and fluency, prop Sam White channelled his inner winger to go over in the corner a few minutes later and cut the Baa Baas' lead back to just two points.
"It was just sort of playing with a passion for the symbol on your shirt," Clout said, touching the Magpies logo on his jersey, of what was said at half-time.
"Just playing for one another, trusting each other."
And getting "a bit of mungrel" about them.
Setting the tone for the rollercoaster ride the last 30 minutes would be, Barbarians winger Rari Widders-Lockwood briefly stymied their momentum with a great run down the left wing.
But, as opportunities started to open up for the Magpies, fullback Mitch Bowen locked the scores up at 26-all at the mid-point of the half.
After a great busting run from Clout, the home side then hit the front for the first time since the eighth minute, Brock Bayes twisting his way over for a 33-26 lead.
Again though Baa Baas hit back almost straight away with powerful No.8 Valentino Rage, who was a real handful especially in the first half, making it a two-point game with 14 to play.
They then had a penalty kick to reclaim the lead but the attempt was unsuccessful.
Not long after Magpies No.8 Walker Harrison dove over the ruck to extend their lead back out to seven points.
The Magpies coaches and supporters heads were then though in their hands, as they knocked on the kick-off, gifting the Baa Baas possession and good territory.
But, they were able to hold them out and work their way up the other end of the field to score on the siren through Harry Mills and finally break their duck in 2024.
A "long time coming", Clout was proud of how they stuck in there and fought back, although would have preferred not to have to be chasing the game.
"It was hard in the first half when they got those first three tries on us," he said.
"We sort of need to work on that, just try to start games a lot better otherwise you're forever chasing your tail and it's getting down to the wire.
"I know it's good for the crowd, the down to wire games, but being on there it's a bit stressful."
