Manildra Rhinos are quietly becoming a contender in the 2021 Woodbridge Cup

Manildra Rhinos smacked the visiting Grenfell Goannas 44-6 as newly-signed captain-coach Luke Petrie bagged four tries, while his halves partner and brother Will snagged one as well.

It was somewhat of a clinic from the playmakers as the Red V improved its 2021 record to 2-0 before heading into the bye next weekend.

The away side was brave in the opening exchanges, especially when you consider it was not only their first match of the season, but one of the first times the side has come together this year.

But, what started off as an arm wrestle soon turned into one-way traffic as the home side's class prevailed.

It's always nice to bag four meat pies but Luke Petrie was more pleased at his side's defence, the Rhinos not conceding a point until the 78^th minute.

"Every time we made an error it was our defence that got us out of trouble," Petrie said.

"We're still not there yet in attack and there's a lot of people that need to come back, but we're working on it."

Fitness was something that plagued Goannas throughout the 80 minutes, and it proved tricky for the victors well.

"We can run up and down the field at training as much as we want," he said.

"But, we just need to play. This week was easier than last week and hopefully by our third game, it's sorted."

Interestingly enough, the Petrie haven't played footy alongside each other before but when Luke signed on with the Rhinos for 2021, Luke followed suit.

"It's a family club and that's what won Will over," Luke said.

Goannas' captain-coach Steve Taylor was somewhat dejected after the match, but knows there's plenty to look forward to.

"That was pretty much our first training run," Taylor said.

"All our guys are still finding their feet and their position. We've had a lot of young fellas come up and we're just finding a spot for them all."

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