The return of former NRL player Kyle Turner wasn't enough for the Coonabarabran Unicorns in Saturday's Castlereagh League opening round clash with the defending premiers.
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The Unicorns were left to lament a slow start in what finished a 34-16 loss to the last season's champions, the Dunedoo Swans.
Turner lined up for his junior club having last played in the NRL during the 2019 season for the South Sydney Rabbitohs.
The injury-plagued forward played 91 times for the Rabbitohs while his career also included appearances for NSW Country and the Indigenous All Stars.
His return is a huge boost for his junior club but it couldn't stop the Unicorns from falling to a 16-0 lead early on in the round one clash with the Swans.
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Former Dubbo CYMS star and Newcastle Knights squad member Bayden Searle opened the scoring for Dunedoo while Dan Lane and Cameron Sutton also crossed in the opening exchanges.
Following a great 40/2- from halfback Brad Fuller, captain-coach Jarvis Watton scored Coonabarabran's first points and it was soon 16-10 when centre Josh Nixon crossed.
However, the home side then began to take control and captain-coach Ben Thompson,a standout throughout alongside Will Hawkins, produced an outstanding individual effort in a barnstorming run to score and extend the Swans' lead.
The lead grew to 34-10 before Dustin Crawley grabbed a late consolation for the Unicorns.
The first grade game was preceded by a very exciting League Tag match which Dunedoo won 10-8.
At Cobar, the Roosters issued an ominous warning to all clubs and proved their pre-season Knockout triumph was no fluke when they smashed the Trangie Magpies 82-10.
In the opening round's other match, the Gulgong Terriers proved to be too strong at home and defeated the Baradine Magpies 34-16.
