Things didn't seem to be going Matt Neill's way when he woke up on Saturday.
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The Rhinos captain found out only a few hours before kick-off that two members of the squad he was expecting to take into the match against the second placed Narromine Gorillas wouldn't be available.
"Our five-eighth and our centre were actually unavailable, and they're two of our big strike weapons," Neill said.
"I haven't played centre for a while, I was pretty worried, I thought 'no ten, no inside centre, we're going to get smoked by these guys'."
Despite the almost insurmountable task ahead of them, the Rhinos managed to match the Gorillas blow for blow, equalling them in tries scored and conversions kicked.
An early penalty try and a disallowed effort from Rhino's speedster Kevin Greenway saw Narromine leave with the points when all was said and done, but the all around effort saw the Rhinos walk off to applause from the club's faithful on sponsor's day.
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"We talked earlier today about it being sponsor's day and all the old boy's would be watching, so we had to make a bit of an effort out of it," Neill said.
"Everyone lifted, everyone supported each other, it wasn't a win, but they are without a doubt the pinnacle of rugby in this competition - you can't talk about good rugby teams without looking at Narromine - to be able to stick with them and beat them in the second half when we're short, I'm really proud of the boys."
"It wasn't a win - but it's a moral win for us, on paper it should have been a cakewalk for them today, but we've proved we're building."
The Gorillas broke away to an early lead with a red-hot start, sending both Keith Maher and Luke Brown over for tries, with a further penalty try being added on the twenty minute mark.
Bobbie Gordon came roaring back to put the Rhinos on the board, with Dale Smith adding another and Kevin Greenway acing the second conversion to claw back the gap.
An acrobatic attempt by Greenway mid-way through the game was disallowed, much to the home crowd's disappointment, but the majority of the possession, and the forward movement belonged to the Rhinos in the second half, with Gordon turning every touch with the ball into an aggressive raid on the Gorillas' half of the field.
Ryan McCracken was key in keeping the ball in Rhinos' hands, while James Dodd and Brett Austin both provided plenty of metres for the home side, while Ratu Roko and Jack Bell both provided plenty of impact and speed for the visitors.
Narromine will next meet a struggling CSU side as they attempt to reach the top of the table next week, while the Dubbo Rhinos will face off once again with the Mudgee Wombats in their final round before the bye.
Narromine Gorillas 19 (Keith Maher, Luke Brown tries, penalty try, Doug Potter goal) DEF. Dubbo Rhinos 12 (Dale Smith, Bobbie Gordon tries, Kevin Greenway goal)