Tim Beach of the Dubbo Kangaroos has no doubt his side is still a premiership contender after roaring back to form against Orange City on Saturday.
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After eyeing off the Blowes Clothing Cup's top two earlier in the season, a run of four successive losses prior to Saturday had the Roos in danger of falling out of the top four.
But on Old Boys' Day at No.1 Oval on Saturday the Roos produced the shot in the arm needed, running out convincing 54-12 winners over City.
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Beach, playing in the unfamiliar position of flyhalf rather than centre for the injury-hit Roos, was involved in most of the game's moments and said the performance proved his side has what it takes to be a threat this year.
"I say this with all my heart, I still think we're going to be in with a shot at a premiership," Beach said.
"The games we're losing are only by small margins and we're still seeing little errors come into play today, which could cost us at times. But if we can just get those one per centers and get the handling errors and penalties right then I think we're going to be welly and truly in with a shot.
"Our goal is to go five-from-five in the final round so it's full steam ahead."
Saturday's win narrowed the gap between the Roos and third-placed Orange Emus to just one point but more success will be needed in the coming weeks as the fifth-placed Forbes Platypi proved they're still in contention after only being beaten by two points in their thrilling match with competition front-runners Cowra on Saturday.
A win for the Roos was vital on Saturday and they began as warm favourites against a City side which made the trip to Dubbo sitting at the foot of the ladder without a win in 2022.
But the Roos' recent run of results - narrow losses to Bathurst Bulldogs, Orange Emus and Cowra and a thumping at the hands of Forbes - created some pressure for the hosts.
It was eased somewhat inside the first two minutes when a Calub Cook penalty put the Roos in front and then the lead grew when NSW Country representative Ratu Roko crossed for the Dubbo side's first try on 10 minutes.
City soon hit back through Kieran Bonin after the Lions finally got some sustained possession but two tries in four minutes - the first via a darting run from captain and scrumhalf Tom Koerstz and the second off a lovely set play from a scrum featuring an inside ball from Beach back to Cook - put the Roos in control.
Cook scored his second and then Josh Tremain went over for City to make it 27-12 at the break and in the second half the Roos went on with the job.
The Lions were brave for much of the match and created opportunities but they tired late on and that, combined with a Harry West yellow card for a high shot, allowed the Roos to flourish. Beach and Cliff Noke both crossed while winger Josh Lees scored a second-half double, the second try after a perfect grubber into the in-goal for himself.
"That last 10 minutes we let in some late tries and that was a bit disappointing but I'm not disappointed with the effort," Ben Watson, part of the City coaching team, said at full-time.
"We've got a really young team and we were only saying this morning there's 11 guys under 21 years of age and today was probably the best they've looked all year so as disappointing as it is there is positives to come out of it."
While City remains without a win this year, Beach said his side was all too aware of the hunger within the young Lions' squad.
"Coming of four losses un a row, we thought they (City) might have seen it as an opportunity to get their first win so we took this game very seriously," he said.
"It was very important for us to get back in the winners' circle and we did it and did it convincingly."
All Blowes Clothing Cup clubs will enjoy a general bye next weekend before the Roos return with the challenging trip to Bathurst to take on Bulldogs on June 23.
The Roos will be hopeful regular number 10 Josh Bass will be back then as he missed another match on Saturday due to a shoulder injury suffered while on representative duty with Central West last month.
- DUBBO KANGAROOS 54 (Calub Cook 2, Josh Lees 2, Ratu Roko, Tom Koerstz, Tim Beach, Cliff Noke tries; Cook 4 conversions, 2 penalties) defeated ORANGE CITY 12 (Kieren Bonin, Josh Tremain tries; Barton Young goal)