After three consecutive losses, the Mudgee Dragons breathed fire back into their minor premiership campaign with an emphatic 60-12 victory over Oberon Tigers at Glen Willow Stadium on Sunday.

Chris Ward was unstoppable for the Dragons, laying on several tries with his off-loads and line breaks, while four of his team-mates each scored a double.

It was a welcomed return to the winner’s circle for the Dragons with the victory boosting their confidence with matches against Bathurst St Pat’s and Orange CYMS in the next fortnight.

“With a couple of hard games going into the semis, we’ve got to start playing the style of footy we have to play to win semi-final matches. I thought we did here today,” Dragons’ co-captain Jared Robinson said.

Mudgee ran in 10 tries in the 48-point romp with doubles to winger Nathan Orr, centre Corin Smith, halfback Tim Condon and second-rower Hamish Bryant.

“Wardy was unreal. He made a number of line breaks and he came looking for the pill. Hamish was good and Timmy was pretty good too. He held his head and played some smart footy,” Robinson said.

The only concerns for Mudgee are injuries to player-coach Jack Afamasaga and Demitrius Ainuu.

Afamasaga went off with a calf injury in the 12th minute and never returned while Ainuu injured his groin in the second half.

There are more concerns for Oberon and coach Scott Traynor. The Tigers are in a three-way battle with Lithgow and Blayney for the wooden spoon.

“We can show we can match it with any team in the comp when we are on and unfortunately we had an off day,” Traynor said.

“We want to finish the season off on a positive note. We’ve got a bye then games against Blayney and Workies [Lithgow] to go, and hopefully we can win those two and hopefully build on next year.”

Tries came easy for the Dragons in the opening 15 minutes with off-loads, speed and support play leading to four-pointers to Bryant, Orr and Condon.

Smith scored his 24th try of the season in the 28th minute while Mudgee’s defence also stood strong.

For the final five minutes of the first half, Oberon attacked inside Mudgee’s 20 metres but they could not break  the Dragons’ defence.

The second half started like the first with a try to Ben Thompson courtesy of a Ward break to make it 30-0.

Smith bagged his second and 25th for the season to shoot Mudgee out to a 34-point lead.

Oberon hit back when fullback Brenton Gibson caught a high bomb and scored under the posts.

A bit of niggle crept into the game, which saw the two teams come together and exchanged pleasantries but nothing that could stop Mudgee from scoring again through Orr.

Condon’s second try under the posts made the score 46-6.

With less than 10 minutes to go, Mudgee racked up the half-century for the first time this season when under 18s player Zac Adams scored.

The replacement receive some attention by an Oberon player after he put the ball down, which brought the teams together again.

It also saw an unusual eight-point try with referee Dale Harding awarding Mudgee a penalty kick after Lewsley successfully converted Adams’ try.

Oberon scored from the restart when they gathered a small kick-off and centre Jackson Brien went to score.

But the game finished as it started, with Bryant crossing for his second.

With their season back on track, the table-leading Dragons aren’t focussed on the minor premiership.

“We haven’t spoken about it,” Robinson said about winning the minor premiership for the first time in five years.

“It gives us another week off and a home semi. We can’t miss the semis now and that was the goal at the start of the year. 

“If we can finish first and get that major semi here, that is just an added bonus.”

MUDGEE DRAGONS 60 (Nathan Orr 2, Corin Smith 2, Tim Condon 2, Hamish Bryant 2, Ben Thompson, Zac Adams tries; Tom Lewsley 10 goals) def OBERON TIGERS 12 (Brenton Gibson, Jackson Brien tries; Steve Lane 2 goals).