It wasn’t.

Instead the incident galvanised Bulldogs as they went on to post a 43-7 win over the ’Roos in their Blowes Clothing Cup match at Ashwood Park.

“It probably drove us if anything, we all lifted for Jaymen. He’s been a big part of what we are doing this year, but I think he’s out for the season now,” Bulldogs captain Mark Donnelly said.

“It’s been a long time since we’ve had a scoreline like that against Dubbo. They’re always tough whether we play them here or over in Dubbo, so it’s definitely a good win.”

Dubbo coach Beau Robinson also saw the injury – which led to the teams switching fields for the remainder of the first half – as a turning point.

“It probably spurred them on I think, gave them a bit of motivation. They came out and fair play to them, as soon as they got going again they scored a try and that was it, we couldn’t stop them after that,” he said.

“That was our full strength team, so that was pretty disappointing. After that break, they [Bulldogs] just went to another level. They were a very well-drilled team as you could see today.”

When play resumed following Carter’s incident, the scoreboard read nil-all.

But just over a minute later Bulldogs opened their account, driving ’Roos back in a scrum on their line. When the ball spilled free out the side, halfback Josh Oxley scooped it up and dived over.

The ’Roos looked like drawing level in the 25^th minute when attacking down the left side of the field, but Bulldogs winger Riley Hanrahan sprinted across in cover and while not stopping his opposite number Matt Saul, did enough to see the winger step into touch.

Playing expansive rugby and trying to exploit an overlap after ’Roos flyhalf Hamish Gordon was yellow carded for a high tackle, Bulldogs crossed twice more before half-time as firstly Harry Webber, then Dylan Carter, found space on the left flank.

That gave them a 17-0 lead and when play resumed, the hosts dished up more of the same.

Arguably the best try of the match was the one which came next as Hanrahan beat three cover defenders and the fullback before sending the ball back inside to Harry Peacock.

’Roos finally managed to enjoy some time in possession inside Bulldogs’ 22 following that try. As the hosts worked to hold them out Peacock was yellow carded and from there Dubbo spread the ball wide and skipper Shaun McHugh stepped his way over.

That effort made it 24-7, but in the 18 minutes which remained, Bulldogs blew the margin out.

Travis Gibson crossed after another big push from the Bulldogs scrum saw them win the ball against the feed. Ben Sheppeard and Brad Glasson then iced the bonus-point win as they scored as well, Bathurst making amends for their 27-19 loss to ’Roos earlier this season.

“We spoke about it in the sheds, we wanted to play a quick, expansive game. Get straight and up the the middle to start with then look to use or width and our fast boys outside,” Donnelly said.

“We’ve beaten every side now, but anything could still happen from here. With the new structure, it just show how tough it it. It’s just about managing your injuries and the depth of the club.”

The result saw Cowra leapfrog ’Roos into third on the ladder and Robinson knows they need to be better if they want to climb back up.

“They really looked like they turned up today and we didn't, you can't do that, especially in this comp,” he said.

"There's things there that we know we need to work and things that we are still working on.”