The Cowboys went within an arms reach of making it three wins from three last round but Parkes had other ideas, depriving Wellington of that satisfaction in the closing five minutes of the game.

Despite having led for the majority of the game Wellington were beaten on the bell 28-24 to crush captain-coach Aidan Ryan’s target of winning the first three rounds.

Ryan wasn’t impressed as he recalled the final five minutes of the round three match against Parkes as the Spacemen ran in two tries in the dying minutes to claim the win.

Having held pride in his club’s defensive efforts so far this season it was a disappointing outcome for Ryan who put the loss down to poor attitude. 

“We deserve what we got,” he said. “I don’t mind losing but to lose like that is woeful.”

“Everything was going right for us; we were running hard, tackling hard and we scored two early tries in the half to put us up 24-12.

“Then Parkes got one back mid-way through the half and into the third quarter it all went downhill from there.”

With five minutes remaining Parkes put up bomb and Wellington spilled it into the Spacemen’s hands who capitalised on the error in a defining and controversial moment of the round.

Parkes followed this up with a 100 metre try to seal the game. 

Ryan praised the efforts of Justin Toomey-White and juniors Mac Dutfield and Brock Naden, however said that some of the team’s long-term players need to lift their game.

His disappointment stems to concern as Wellington prepares to host the competition’s benchmark team, Dubbo CYMS, at Kennard Park on Sunday.

“We need to shape up this weekend if we want to be a challenge or they’ll just blow us off the park,” Ryan said.

“Everyone is talking about us but CYMS are the top side, they always have been.

“They’re fit. They have a quality side across their whole 17 players, they’re just such a dominant side and I guess I’ve got to prepare the boys as best as I can.

“We’ll be making a few changes this week so we’ll see how that pans out for us and we’ll take it every game at a time… everyone will be hyped up for this game.” 

“I’m still confident we can win the game but it all comes back to our mentality and how we play the game. 

“Our halves have to step up this week and take control, really dominate.”