The powerful inside centre ran in back-to-back five-pointers in the first half to help the defending premiers lead 36-7 at the break, before contributing another two in the second period and a conversion for a final scoreline of 58-7.

The young gun was surprised by his 22-piont haul.

“I’ve never got three tries before, so to get four is pretty good,” Harris beamed.

“It was pretty easy when you’ve got a good team. You’ve just got to back up and they’re there.”

It was a case of Emus taking their opportunities at Endeavour Oval while the Lions struggled to get on the front foot.

City looked to be first on the board in the second minute but the try was disallowed for a knock-on.

Lions caption Logan Brockman believes that was a key moment in the game for his side.

“I think we were a little bit unlucky not to get that first try. I thought it was a try … I think that would have made a difference for us if we had scored that try,” Brockman said.

“Credit to Emus, they turned it around and they scored straight after that, and straight after that, and straight after that again.”

Emus winger Tom Green was in minutes after City’s disallowed try followed by Nick Hughes-Clapp and a double to Harris. This gave the hosts a 24-0 lead.

Brockman broke the drought for the Lions in the 25^th minute when he crashed over and Sam Dwyer was able to slot the conversion.

City continued to try, without luck, to build on their score, while Emus had success with a third five-pointer to Harris followed by barnstorming prop Nas Havealeta pushing over just before the break.

Things became tougher early in the second half for City with scrumhalf Tom Nell being forced off the field after injuring his left elbow.

Then the Lions lost prop Trey Sdnalyrrem and winger Tom McDonald to the sin bin, minutes apart, in separate incidents.

Somehow, two men down, the Lions managed to hold Emus up over the tryline once before No.8 Rob Thorburn muscled his way over to push Emus’ lead out to 41-7 with 20 minutes remaining.

After a see-sawing period, in which both sides earned penalties, Emus put on two more tries through scrumhalf Sam Green and centre Carter Hirini.

Fittingly, Harris scored Emus’ last points with his fourth try minutes before the final whistle.

Despite the sizable margin, Harris said his side can still improve its defence.

“We sort of got caught a bit a couple of times in the backs, so we might work on that,” Harris said.

He also admitted Emus, who are undefeated this season, need to make sure they stay switched on for the entire match.

“We knock out that first bit of grind then sort of drop off a bit, which once we come up against sides like Bathurst and Dubbo is going to test us out,” he explained.

Brockman was disappointed with City’s loss but was happy with the side’s effort against the competition leaders.

“We stuck to it the whole way I guess,” he said.

“There were stages where we let them go but, until the final bell, we did stay in the game I thought. We were there trying.”

The Lions remain a chance of making the semi-finals but Brockman said the equation is simple.

“We’ve got to start winning,” he said.

“We’ve got Forbes next, week, also another tough ask. In a lot of the games we have been in it, at half-time we’ve definitely been in it, we’re just not starting (well).” 

Lions’ depth will continue to be tested with forward Ben Wilson coming off with a back injury and Nell spending much of the second half on the sideline with an elbow complaint.

Emus captain and fullback Nigel Staniforth came off late in the derby but Harris assured it was nothing to worry about.

“He should be right. He’s getting on,” Harris laughed.

“When he comes off he’s a big loss. He’s the leader of our team but there’s a lot of other boys who can step up.” 

ORANGE EMUS 58 (Lachie Harris 4, Tom Green, Nick Hughes-Clapp, Rob Thorburn, Nas Havealeta, Sam Green, Carter Hirini tries; Nigel Staniforth 3, Lachie Harris convs) def ORANGE CITY 7 (Logan Brockman try, Sam Dwyer conv).