By MARK CASHMAN

He wasn’t exactly kicking the cat but you could feel the frustration in Hunter Wildfires coach Scott ‘Bubba’ Coleman voice when Rugby News spoke to him in the wake of their 43-29 loss to Eastern Suburbs on Sunday.

The Wildfires led the Beasties for larges slices of this Shute Shield encounter at the Newcastle No.2 Sports Ground, but in the end the result and much of the performance summed up where they are it at the moment.

They are moving in the right direction but the patience and bloody mindedness needed to win at this level were not quite there when the game was in the balance.