If South Australia harboured any hopes of keeping its Sheffield Shield season alive with a sizeable run chase against Queensland at the Gabba, first-innings tormentor Chris Swan delivered an unfortunate reality check on Thursday.
The Redbacks would have taken some heart from the dominant 127-run partnership between Bulls openers Ryan Broad (49) and Wade Townsend (74 not out), if only because the pair made batting look easy in the bowler-friendly conditions.
The visitors earlier lasted just one session with the willow, capitulating to be all out for 72 thanks largely to the work of Luke Feldman (4-14) and Swan, who snared his maiden five-wicket haul.
South Australia is already 220 runs behind after the Bulls raced to be 2-132 at stumps on day two, and will need to perform a minor miracle with both bat and ball to claim the unlikeliest of outright victories.
There was some suggestion that the Redbacks' task in the second dig would be made easier by a flattening pitch, but Swan would have none of it.
"There's still plenty to offer on that pitch, the next two days it's going to be nice and overcast and it'll harden up a little bit," Swan said.
"It will be just as tough (to bat on) the whole way through."
It was that characteristic of the playing strip that prevented the swing bowler from being too overconfident about his side's upper hand.
"It's more the slowness of it, blokes do not have the confidence to go through with their shots, so they're a bit more tentative," he said.
"So the hands are getting out in front of them and it's taking the edges."
"We've got to take every session at a time, we're definitely in the box seat, but the game is definitely not over - we want to grow this lead and capitalise on the partnerships."
"You saw you can still lose quick wickets in a rush, so when you get a partnership together you've really got to capitalise like Broady and Townsend did."