When speaking in the post-match conferences on Sunday afternoon, Ivan Cleary and Wayne Bennett couldn't have been in more different moods.
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But there was one thing the pair could agree on after the Penrith Panthers' dominant NRL win over South Sydney Rabbitohs and that was Dubbo delivered a brilliant day worthy of the occasion.
Both coaches had nothing but praise for the Apex Oval surface and the facilities in Dubbo, but it was Cleary who was the vastly more satisfied coach after his side produced another brilliant display on the way to a 56-12 victory highlighted by a hat-trick for hometown hero Matt Burton.
Bennet could only apologise to the South Sydney fans who had made the trip to Dubbo after his side again fell well short against a top four side.
"I'm sorry for all the fans here today the way we played. They deserve better than that," Bennett said.
"It was a great afternoon, great venue, the atmosphere was wonderful. They wanted to get into the game but we just couldn't get them into the game because we couldn't get ourselves into the game.
"Penrith were wonderful and played great football. But it's a wonderful thing for the game to do and the support here today shows they want more of that so it's just a case of getting the balance right."
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Cleary also had nothing but praise for footy in regional areas and the feeling within Apex Oval as a crowd of 10,824 people took in the spectacle.
The Panthers coach had plenty of reason to be a happy man after his side made it 11 straight wins to start the season.
The 42-point victory also made it two-from-two in regional areas, after a 28-16 win over Manly at Bathurst's Carrington Park earlier this month.
"The ground is amazing and the town was buzzing," Cleary said.
"I've said it before but I love coming to the bush to play footy and hopefully everyone enjoyed it and we can do it again.
"Yeoy (Isaah Yeo) said to me this ground has it over Bathurst so sorry Bathurst people but that's just his opinion.
"But the playing surfaces at both grounds are actually superb. It's really good for them game."
The only thing better than the atmosphere inside Apex Oval on Sunday was the quality of the Panthers.
While Nathan Cleary was again a standout with two tries of his own and another four try assists, it was hometown junior Matt Burton who was the toast of Dubbo.
The St John's junior and former Dubbo CYMS player scored a hat-trick in the win while fellow local product Isaah Yeo was again strong throughout in the middle of the field, much to the delight of the huge amount of family and friends in attendance.
"It was fantastic. I can only imagine what guys like Burto and Yeoy were feeling today," the coach said.
"It must be a dream come true. It's a dream for a kid out of Dubbo or any of these country areas to play NRL but to come back and play at their home town.
"I just said to them it has it challenges and there can be distractions and getting tickets and all that stuff but they were both outstanding."
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