Coming off three losses in a row the Dubbo Rhinos were determined to defeat the Mudgee Wombats at Apex Oval on Saturday, and for about three-quarters of the game they looked set to do just that.

They led for most of the first half and at times in the second, but coach Guy Turner said in the end they “gave it away”, Mudgee winning 31-25.

“At times we were sensational and then at other times we just played very, very poorly,” he said.

“We came here to win but we just couldn’t do the job on the day.

“The loss today is going to make it incredibly hard for the rest of the season.”

The hosts came out firing and scored early when they moved the ball wide from a scrum and into the hands of Tyson Fuller. The versatile outside back skipped around Mudgee’s defence to score out wide.

Mudgee equalised at 5-5 a short time later through skipper Tom Dunstan, who drove over from close range after a series of attempts being held up.

It was the story of the match: Dubbo owned the wings while Mudgee had the ascendancy through the middle.

It would prove the difference in the end – literally. Wombats five-eighth James Ford converting three of his five attempts, while Dubbo’s Rodney Jackson and Viliame Turuva couldn’t find the extras from out wide.

Dubbo took the lead again through James Vaughn, Fuller got his second and Adam Rayner kept the visitors in the race before a case of ill-discipline saw the Rhinos lose a man to the sin bin for the third time in as many games.

This time it was Nacewa Nalagi who copped a dangerous tackle, earning the Rhinos a penalty, but lashed out with the fist to be shown the yellow card.

They almost managed to hold out for the ten minutes, but sustained pressure off the ruck saw Mudgee’s Dave Jessiman force his way over and James Ford kicked the first successful conversion of the game to give the visitors a 17-15 lead going into halftime.

After the break the Rhinos looked more willing to throw the ball around, and it paid off when Ricky Weatherall caught the ball out wide and danced 30 metres to get a try in his first game back.

Scott Hedrick crashed over for the Wombats a few minutes later before Brett Austin made like a winger, catching a loping pass out wide and running over in the corner to put the hosts ahead 25-24 with 15 minutes remaining.

But Hedrick’s second came shortly after and the Rhinos had no response left.

A head injury to halfback Chris Sellings was the final blow for the hosts, who sit about seven points outside the top four and finals contention.

“He’s gone for a week,” Turner said, the concussion rule coming into play after Sellings lost consciousness for a time.

“Took our best halfback out which makes it even harder now.”

He said discipline and cohesion would have to be the focus going forward.

“I thought the back line was sensational. Blokes like Tyson and Ricky Weatherall … was just brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.

“Those are the sort of players that we need to bond around.”

MUDGEE WOMBATS 31 (Scott Hedrick 2, Tom Dunstan, Adam Rayner, Dave Jessiman tries; James Ford 3 conversions) def DUBBO RHINOS 25 (Tyson Fuller 2, James Vaughn, Ricky Weatherall, Brett Austin tries)