The ongoing injury crisis and a continued battle with discipline resulted in the Dubbo Kangaroos suffering a heavy Blowes Clothing Cup defeat at Cowra on Saturday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Roos were hammered 51-10 as the Eagles delighted their strong Old Boys' Day crowd.
Dubbo coach Paul Hausia has refused the use the ever-growing casualty list at the club as an excuse this season but he couldn't help but reference it after the loss which, combined with the Bathurst Bulldogs' win over Forbes, has the Roos well off the pace in the race for finals.
"In total, we are probably carrying about 15 injuries, so that doesn't help the situation, but the boys pumped it until the last 15-20 minutes," Hausia said.
"All credit to Cowra, they played really well."
READ ALSO:
Cowra scored three tries in the first half while all the Roos had to show for their effort was a penalty goal for Jake Styles.
The hosts went on with the job in the second half while the Roos again conceded penalties and had players sin-binned.
Hausia said Styles and halves partner Max Rumble deserved praised for their determination in trying circumstances but he was left disappointed to see his side make the same mistakes.
"The halves really stood out, as much as they tried, they knew they had their work cut out," he said.
"We knew between the nine, 10 and 13 in Cowra's backline and their forwards being hard to contain a lesson would be learnt, but we'll go from here.
"We just needed to stick to the game plan that we said we were going to, we did in patches here and there throughout the game.
"But the consistency we said we needed to maintain went out the window today but, as I said, when the club is carrying 15 minor and major injuries it is hard."
After a dominant first half showing the Eagles maintained the consistency in the second half and powered to 32-3 lead with 15 minutes remaining.
The Roos showed some fight late on and scored through Darcy Chewings after Styles put in a perfect cross-field kick from within his own half for the young winger.
That was the lone highlight for the Roos while Noah Ryan finished as the hero for Cowra after he scored a double and kicked four conversions and a penalty.
"I'm very pleased with the result, you have to be pleased with 51-10," Cowra coach Colin Kilby said.
"We had great support come out which lifts the boys, so it's good to put on a bit of a show and give them a win like that."
Kilby said he had been impressed with the whole playing group.
"He (Noah Ryan) is coming along well, going leaps and bounds week to week. Will Turner was good, solid inside the scrum and Will Cummins did a mountain of work.
"Then the Fiji connection Navitalai Bola and Vilikesa Qio Koilagi tore them to pieces when they got the space."
The Roos, now 12 points off fourth, host Forbes next weekend.