New Holland Cup 2023: Mudgee defeated Dubbo Rhinos 50-8

The Rhinos were in Mudgee on Saturday for round four of the competition and it was the home side who ran riot, winning 50-8 at Glen Willow Sporting Complex.

Rhinos coach Doug Sandry missed the match with Graham Conn taking the reins and the latter said Mudgee deserved the win after what was a tough game for the visiting side.

"It was a pretty ordinary effort really," he said.

"We just couldn't hang onto the ball really or build any pressure. When you spend long periods of time tackling then you just run out of gas."

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Eroni Turagatautoka scored the lone try for the Rhinos while Dale Smith slotted a penalty goal also for the visitors in what was a one-sided fixture.

The Wombats on the other hand ran in seven tries with their kicker only converting two of those with three penalty goals also being kicked.

After a strong start to the season, the loss keeps the Rhinos inside the top four but puts some breathing room between themselves and the undefeated Wombats side.

Mudgee have won three matches from as many games this season and Conn believes they keep things very simple on the field.

"They have a very simple game plan and they execute it very well, their set pieces are very good," he said.

"Their scrums are always used very effectively.

"They just retain possession very well and forwards decide who wins games, they were able to get to the breakdown and pressure our ball.

"They ended up securing their ball fairly easily in the end."

The Rhinos will have the bye next weekend, giving the group some time to reflect and get back to their best when Narromine Gorillas come to town in a fortnight.

For Conn, he is confident he knows exactly where things went wrong for his group and hopes they can fix some key areas as soon as possible.

"Individuals did some good things but it wasn't a collective effort," he said.

"Someone would make a good run or something like that then the support wasn't there to retain the ball.

"Guys tried really hard but we played more like 15 individuals rather than a team.

"That was probably the biggest thing to come out of it for me."

Elsewhere, Narromine scored a strong win over CSU Bathurst at the latter's home ground.