'Punched us up a bit': Lee tells Lions not to be sorry after heartbreaking loss

With Duncan Young's penalty attempt hitting the post after the siren, you could have forgiven the Lions boys for stewing on the 26-25 result for the next week.

Captain Colin McGregor was seen apologising to Greg Lee after his side surrendered a 22-7 half-time lead but the new coach wasn't having any of it.

"What I say to the boys is be grateful you've got the opportunity to play the game because there's a lot of others that would take your place at a heartbeat," he said.

"They're building their momentum. They're a tight bunch of boys and a lot of them have played together before but it's a new coach and new systems.

"We've got to get used to it but I think we've got a bright future in this comp."

The Lions fell just short of a finals appearance in 2023 after failing to win a match in 2022.

On Saturday (April 20) at Victoria Park they looked a different outfit altogether with their effort alone enough to satisfy Lee in his debut match.

"I think they've come a long way and I think they've got a long way to go," he said.

"But, I think out of everything based on what's happened in previous years, people are seeing a new brand of rugby that City playing.

"We've worked hard over the last 10 weeks. I think it's starting to come together. We've still got a long way to go, we've still got a lot of work to do but the way the boys dug deep today and even to the last minute, it came down to the last thing, and scoreline tells the story.

"All credit goes to Dubbo. They came back, punched us up a bit towards the end.

"But, ultimately, I'm happy with the boys and I'm happy that it was a good contest and a good game of rugby because ultimately, that's what we want."

In Bathurst, Orange Emus started the grand final rematch strongly, scoring first through Ollie Harvison.

But the defending premiers worked their way back into the game and took advantage of a yellow card to Emus debutant Flynn Taylor to score twice.

They scored two more tries in the second half and despite a late surge, Emus were left in the familiar scenario of not quite getting over the line against the Bulldogs.

Their cause wasn't helped by co-captain and flyhalf Josh Bass exiting the match early due to a shoulder injury as well as two more yellow cards for a high tackle and ruck infringement.

Both Orange clubs are at home on Saturday (April 27) with City welcoming Cowra Eagles and Emus facing Dubbo.