It's something everyone comes to the footy to see, and it's a spectacle that Woodbridge Cup fans witnessed on Sunday afternoon as Canowindra big boy Nathan Whatman crossed for a hat-trick of tries during his side's 36-18 win over Bulls at Molong Recreation Ground.

Kev Grimshaw's men visited Molong's home ground as firm favourites to get another victory, and they shot out of the blocks like morals, taking a 22-0 lead after a barrage of tries.

The boys in blue fought back, narrowing the gap to 22-12 but in the end, the better team got the chocolates as Whatman's third put the nail in the coffin with just two minutes to go.

"I haven't scored many hat-tricks, mate," Whatman laughed.

"We knew this was going to be pretty tough. Molong is still missing a few boys but so were we. We really ripped it in and gave it our all."

Tigers' imports Ryan Clarke, Jonico Hardwick and George Lolo were among missing players for the away side, leaving regular hooker Callum Clyburn playing fullback... something you wouldn't believe unless you were there to see it.

Not only did Clyburn fill the void brilliantly, Grimshaw's side did a great job to rally without three of its best players.

"They're [Molong] a good bunch of local boys and they're all putting in for their town which is good," he said.

"We didn't really know what to expect coming here but a few easy tries came our way early. We got a few bounces of the ball and then we got to the second half and they really stuck it to us... it was pretty tough up the guts."

Whatman was happy to concede the Tigers have a target on their back after such a strong start to the season, but wasn't able to pinpoint who their biggest threat is.

"Everyone really sticks it into you, it's just about who turns up on the day," he said.

"Because we're on top everyone wants to knock us off which is a good thing. Everyone's really giving it their all."

The roster at Canowindra is obviously strong, but it's being guided by one of the most experienced mentor in the region.

"He's unreal, he's probably one of the best coaches I've ever had," he said.

"He tells you the truth. There's no mucking around with him. We've got to win it up the guts first. Front rowers have got to really stamp their authority on the game and get us in front to allow our backs to do their stuff."

Molong captain-coach Todd Barrow would have loved to have secured the two points on Sunday, but was proud of how his side fought back after a disastrous start.

"They were too good for us today," he said.

"But, there were pleasing signs for us. 22-0, we could have threw the towel in but we clawed our way back into it.

"It was a good effort from our boys to play for 80 minutes but yeah, we've got a lot of work to do. Training's been good the last three weeks."

It's hard enough to beat Canowindra when you're at your best, but it was made even harder when the the hosts missed the kick.

"We just didn't start well today, we were a bit flat," he said.

"First 20 minutes we just didn't come out of the gates. That's probably one disappointing thing. If we start better we're right in that game.

"To their credit, they used the ball pretty well. They were going side-to-side and stretching us. They played well."

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