ASK anyone in Group 10, while Bathurst Panthers have a number of unpredictable backs their real strength lies in their gargantuan forward pack, led by behemoths Brent Seager, Greg Behan and Leigh Monaghan.

It’s not secret stopping that pack’s go-forward goes a long way to toppling the men in black.

That’s exactly the task Orange CYMS face on Saturday at Wade Park in their first home game of the year, a mission made all the more difficult without classy lock Kyran Bubb and Western Rams Simon Osborne.

Bubb suffered a suspected anterior cruciate ligament rupture last weekend against Cowra while Osborne was suspended after being sent off in the same clash.

“Bubby looks like he might miss the rest of the year too,” CYMS player-coach Mick Sullivan said.

“Ozzy is pretty disappointed too, I thought it’d only be a week but it looks like he’ll miss a few.

“Stopping Panthers’ go-forward will be a whole lot tougher without those two, but injuries and suspensions happen and we do have more than capable replacements coming in.”

Those replacements are Cam Jones, who will don No.8, and former Western rep Tim Mortimer, who comes in to replace Bubb.

Both ran from the bench against the Magpies.

“For us it is really just about stopping Panthers through the middle. They do have some classy guys out the back so we need to be careful we aren’t focusing too much on the middle third, but if we stop their forwards a bit it’ll certainly help,” Sullivan said.

“Getting our fair share of the ball is important as well. Against Panthers we always seem to be doing 60 or 70 per cent of the defending, so we’d like that to change this weekend.

“I’ve always said if we can get 50 per cent of the ball or more, every other team will struggle against us.”

Premier league kicks off at 4.45pm on Saturday and will round out a bumper seven-game program, which will include Orange Barbarians’ round three New Era Cup clash against the Portland Colts.

ORANGE CYMS: 1 Ben McAlpine, 2 Semisi Katoa, 3 Jerome Harrison, 4 Brock McGarity, 5 Dylan Wood, 6 James Wynne, 7 Mick Sullivan, 8 Cam Jones, 9 Sam Hill, 10 Mitch Davis, 11 Brendan Cousins, 12 Larsen Marabe, 13 Tim Mortimer