They were missing some fire power but that didn't seem to faze Dubbo FC on Sunday.
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Instead the Bulls continued their unbeaten start to the 2019 Dubbo and District Football season with a resounding 4-0 win over Macquarie United FC at Lady Cutler 2.
Striker Brody Austin scored twice in the clash between two of the competition's heavyweights.
But he denied the win made the Bulls the team to beat in 2019.
"Not really. I suppose we had a pretty strong start last year and only came good at the end," Austin said.
"Playing well at the start of the season is not the be-all and end-all, but it does give us a bit of confidence."
The Bulls scored early in Sunday's affair through goal-scoring machine Kobe Rapley, before Austin sent a "little dink over the keeper" for his first.
His second came off a throw-in, with Austin beating two defenders before his shot struck the post and angled in.
Down 3-0 at half-time, Macquarie came out firing and piled the pressure on.
But the Bulls' defence held firm.
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"They dominated but just couldn't score ... Matty Lovedee killed it at centre-back," Austin said.
"We've got pretty good defence so we were never really that worried, but they are a good team.
"Then Bryce [Williams] scored in the last couple of minutes and killed the game off."
The Bulls are only set to get better, with Austin admitting "we're still missing big players".
Striker Gareth Williams (unavailable), James Leonard (injury) and Alex Richardson-Bell (injury) were all absent on the weekend, but should return for Dubbo FC in the weeks and months ahead.
As Austin put it, "they'd get into any team in the comp", and it's a testament to the club's depth this season that they could put together such a strong performance without some of their stars.
Austin credited coach Jason Schink for putting together a "pretty strong" 16-man squad.
In the weekend's other results, Orana Spurs prevailed 3-0 over South Dubbo Wanderers while Newtown Saints defeated the winless Westside Panthers 6-0.
The results give Dubbo FC a three-point buffer at the top of the table, with Spurs (6 points) second ahead of Macquarie and Newtown (4) and Wanderers (3).
