Weekend wrap: Everything you missed from Peter McDonald Premiership round 14

But for Jai and Josh Merritt, it was a chance to earn bragging rights in the family.

The two brothers went toe-to-toe for 80 minutes as Wellington hosted Nyngan and both men had plenty of highlights.

Jai and Wellington dominated the first half of the match before Josh fired.

The elder Merritt put Cale Dunn through for two tries before scoring one of his own but Jai would have the last laugh.

Not to be outdone, Jai scored a try of his own and celebrated in style, booting the ball into the crowd.

It was the younger Merritt who would get the last laugh as well with Wellington winning the match 32-24.

It could have been so easy for the Mudgee Dragons to switch off in Sunday's game against St Pat's, knowing that they can't be knocked down from top spot on the Group 10 table.

But the way the Dragons finished off the game in the 28-16 win at Bathurst shows how much momentum means to them.

The Jack Littlejohn, Hayden Carpenter, Pacey Stockton and Jack Beasley spine make many facets of the game look effortless, even when the pressure starts to mount like in the weekend's latest game.

When they found themselves down 16-10 it was as if they flicked a switch inside the last 20 minutes that allowed them to pick more gaps in the Pat's defence and move the ball to each other like it was on a string.

On top of that, not many teams in this competition are capable of scoring a try against a top-four team in a 12-versus-13 scenario, let alone twice in a game, but the Dragons found a way to do it.

It will be interesting to see if any suspension to player-coach Clay Priest disrupts their finals build up, should he be found guilty of a high tackle at the judiciary this week.

They'll face a Bathurst Panthers side who still have a possible home semi-final to play for, so the Dragons will have one more stern - but ideal - test before finals.

READ ALSO:

With Macquarie losing to Parkes, the Group 11 top four has now been locked in.

Dubbo CYMS will finish first regardless of what happens next weekend against Nyngan and will host the major semi-final in week one.

The Fishies and Parkes have also earned a second chance during the finals should they lose week one.

Parkes will play Mudgee in week one of the finals after finishing second and will take on the Group 10 minor premiers at Glen Willow.

Wellington's win over Nyngan means they will now finish third and host a knockout final while the Tigers will be on the road.

Meanwhile, over in Group 10 their top four is also locked in but it's just a matter of who finishes where.

Mudgee are confirmed to be first while Hawks (second), St Pat's (third) and Panthers (fourth) are separated by just two points with one week left to play.

If you needed a proof of how large the disparity between the two Orange clubs is in 2023 than look no further than the aggregate derby score.

Hawks 94 CYMS 8.

It's been a terrible year for CYMS, something that has been well documented and it was a grim business in first grade once again on Sunday.

However that didn't seem to stop fans from getting to the game with plenty of green jumpers on display in the Wade Park grandstand.

Perhaps their attention was more focused on the curtain-raiser between Hawks and CYMS' under 18 sides.

The unbeaten Hawks led 20-0 at half-time before an inspired CYMS comeback fell just short, 20-14.

With several members of that under 18 side making the step-up to firsts (including two players backing up on Sunday), the grass might just be greener on the other side for the proud old club.

Nyngan's loss to Wellington could've been a lot worse had it not been for their lethal right edge.

Josh Merritt was pulling the strings at halfback with Cale Dunn hitting holes for fun.

Dunn scored a double and Merritt scored a try in a 15-minute of dominance for Nyngan as they scored 18 points.

With Fletcher Hunt popping up all over the park and plenty of talented options to choose from, it's no wonder why coach James Tuitahi isn't too concerned about the loss.

Reading this on mobile web? Download our news app. It's faster, easier to read and we'll send you alerts for breaking news as it happens.Download in the Apple Store or Google Play.