After showcasing their attacking talent in a 40-0 round one drubbing of CSU, the Rhinos were forced to roll up their sleeves in a war of attrition with the Mudgee Wombats on Saturday.

It wasn't pretty for the Ladies' Day crowd at Apex Oval but the Rhinos produced a gritty defensive performance against the powerful Mudgee Wombats and scored a 15-14 victory.

"The last two years we'd definitely turn over and lose those matches," Sandry said.

The Wombats dominated the lineout and the scrum throughout the contest but the Rhinos stuck strong through the middle and out wide in a match dominated by defence and referee Evelyn George's whistle.

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The Rhinos had their own sustained periods of possession but struggled to turn it into points for the most part, with a Kaiden Hill penalty goal the only points in the second half after the Wombats led 14-12 at the break.

"Defensively, our backline was incredible," Sandry said.

"It wasn't the type of game we're our powerful runners could really get into it but I tell you what, defensively, I'm really proud of that."

Less than two minutes into the match, which was delayed after a serious ankle injury to a Mudgee player in second grade, the Wombats showcased their strength by overpowering the Rhinos in the first scrum of the day.

It led to a shift left where the Wombats scored the first try through Lachie Bagurey and and James Ford's sideline conversion made it 7-0.

Mudgee, as expected, continued to dominate the ball but the Rhinos proved their tenacity on 11 minutes. After pinning the Wombats on their own line, an attempted clearing kick was charged down and then winger Aminiasi Rokaci beat teammate Kaiden Hill to the ball and planted it down.

Scrumhalf Hill's boot levelled it up at 7-all and soon after the Rhinos hit the lead when the number nine threw a long cut-out ball from a scrum that put Nash Forgione into space, and he drew the fullback before putting Rokaci in for his second.

That made it 12-7 and the game became more scrappy as both sides, particularly the hosts, were penalised repeatedly.

With 10 minutes remaining in the half, not long after the Rhinos lost captain Matt Graham due to a knee injury, the Wombats worked themselves into attacking territory following one of those Rhinos penalties and hard-running centre Chanse Burgess muscled his way over to set-up a 14-12 half-time lead.

It was only 10 minutes into the second half when Hill got his side back in front courtesy of a penalty goal and they proved to be the final points.

Mudgee had a huge amount of issues with ball control in the second half and while the Rhinos continually gave them ball due to more penalties, the visitors couldn't make it count.

The Rhinos also had their own chances to extend the lead but neither side could find the key pass in a stop-start contest.

"We had a lot of opportunities to get points there at the end and unfortunately we couldn't put them on the board," Mudgee captain and workhorse prop Tom Dunstan said post-game.

"Whenever we get into red-zone we want to convert it into points so it's about pushing that percentage up. We did quite well against Narromine last week but today it was a bit lacklustre.

"It was a defensive game today and whoever had the ball had a hard time, which can be fun to play sometimes."

While pleased with the start of the season, Sandry said there was a huge amount his side needed to work on to remain on top of the ladder.

While the speed in defence was impressive, the Rhinos were overeager far too often and were penalised repeatedly while the Dubbo side also had major issues at the lineout.

"That was scrappy and it was terrible but we'll take a win over Mudgee, especially on Ladies' Day," Sandry said.

"We're working on a really aggressive approach and get off the line. Sometimes we're probably crossing the line. We've just got to learnt o take that little step because the officials were on to us all day because we are quick.

"We'll just take the victory and I'm really proud of the effort."

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