The Dubbo Rhinos season can be summed up by the fact this weekend is one of the few occasions this year coach Guy Turner hasn’t had to change his team because of injuries or unavailability.
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The Rhinos are six points adrift of the closest team at the foot of the ladder and no chance of making the New Holland Agriculture Cup finals heading into the last round of the regular season.
It’s not where the club wanted to be and Turner admitted it has been a disappointing and frustrating year.
“It is disappointing but if you look at the stats we’ve been losing a lot of games by just one try,” he said.
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“We just didn’t know how to finish games. There’s only been about two games all year where we haven’t changed the team from the previous week.
“We’ve been very inconsistent with who’s playing first grade and that's been very disappointing.”
The Dubbo Rhinos finish their season at Mudgee on Saturday against a Wombats side aiming to build some momentum before semi-finals.
Turner knows the physical Wombats pack will test his side but in the last game of the year, he wants to see effort from his troops.
“If we can play like we did last week, bar a couple of soft tries we let, for the full 80 minutes then I’ll be happy,” he said, having seen his side show real fight against the unbeaten Narromine last weekend.
“It will be tough. They (Mudgee) are a bit similar to Narromine, they’re big and like to charge through the guts while we like to spread it wide a bit more.
“It will be contrasting styles but hopefully our backs can win us the game. We’ve got the match them in the forwards and I think our backline is quite good.”
While a win would provide a highlight in an otherwise disappointing season, Turner said the overall experience of coaching has been an enjoyable one.
A person involved with the Rhinos club for longer than most, Turner has spent plenty of times coaching junior and colts sides in the past and took a break from the game before returning this year.
“It’s been great,” he said.
“I’ve always loved coaching and have done a lot of juniors and colts and a little bit of grade in the past.
“I did seven years with juniors and a few with colts but never anything consistent like this (in seniors).
“I love it and there’s nothing better than then seeing a player develop into someone better than they were at the start of the year.”
Andrew Seton has been promoted to the first grade side for Saturday having impressed in the front row in second grade in recent weeks.
While the Rhinos’ first grade and women’s teams won’t be in action at finals time, the club’s second grade outfit is still in the running.
A win this weekend is needed to guarantee the team a place in the semi-finals.
“It would be great for those boys, they’ve toiled hard and they’ve been quite consistent in the last month,” Turner second of the second grade outfit.
“About 80 percent of the side has been playing every week and that’s been really pleasing.
“There’s a few young blokes who have had a taste of firsts, too.”
Saturday’s first grade match at Jubilee Oval starts at 3.15pm, following on from the second grade game at 1.55pm.
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Nick Guthrie
I started working at the Daily Liberal in 2013 and now hold the position of senior journalist. I cover all that's happening in sport in Dubbo and the wider western area and have a passion for doing so. If you've got a story that needs telling, reach out.
I started working at the Daily Liberal in 2013 and now hold the position of senior journalist. I cover all that's happening in sport in Dubbo and the wider western area and have a passion for doing so. If you've got a story that needs telling, reach out.
