WITH more than half of the 2014 Blowes Clothing Cup season gone and his side sitting perched on top of the ladder, Dubbo Kangaroos coach Paul Hennock admits the minor premiership is firmly in his thoughts.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Roos scored their second win over fellow competition heavyweights Orange City at No.1 Oval today, the 20-7 result a stark contrast to their 43-12 result over the Lions back in round two.
But with another win over a title contender behind them, Hennock says the Roos can start to dream a big dream.
"I've told the boys that winning the minor premiership shows who the best team all year is," Hennock said.
"Anyone can lose a grand final on any given day but a minor premiership is the identification of the best team of the year.
"The added bonus is that it can help you progress to the grand final so it revolves around being good all year."
When the sides met back in early April the Roos piled on the points with attacking flair but this time around they were able to grind out a win based on discipline and good defence.
Each side scored just one try, with the boot of Scott Burgess proving the difference.
The Country Cockatoos representative kicked five penalties for a personal haul of 15 points.
Burgess' haul was what frustrated Lions skipper Josh Maley, whose side continually gave away easy points through poor discipline.
"We were a frustrated side out there today and we let things get to us," Maley said.
"I don't know how many penalties we gave away for silly things, including back chatting, but it was one try apiece so it's easy to see that our discipline was our biggest problem."
Dubbo dominated possession and field position in the opening stanza but could muster just three penalties, despite having a one-man advantage for 10 minutes when Gus Brotherton was sin-binned for a high tackle.
Burgess booted two more penalties in the opening eight minutes of the second half before Orange City capped off a good period of play with a try to winger Sam Powell in the corner.
Mesui Lemoto added the extras to cut the margin back to eight points but that was as close as they would get.
Roos skipper Peter Nau barged over off a penalty tap with four minutes to go to secure the home side the win and keep them clear of Orange Emus, who piled on 60 unanswered points against CSU Bathurst.
"This was an important win for us because it helped us keep that buffer on the chasing teams," Hennock said.
"We've beaten City twice now and if we're going to win the competition we'll probably have to beat them again so it's nice to do that. Any little mental edge you can get is an advantage."
DUBBO KANGAROOS 20 (Peter Nau try; Scott Burgess 5 pens) def ORANGE CITY LIONS 7 (Sam Powell try; Mesui Lemoto conv)