A Rhinos' right edge clinic has brought Canowindra's undefeated season to an abrupt halt, the Red V running riot at Tom Clyburn Oval on their way to a 28-18 victory.
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Given the way Manildra has been trending over the last month, you wouldn't call this result a shock, but it's certainly something many Cup pundits would have been startled by.
Usually it's Luke Petrie's left side that does the majority of the damage but on Sunday, it was his brother Will who orchestrated several attacking raids against Kev Grimshaw's Tigers.
"They were just on today," Luke Petrie said.
"Jake Mullins and Jayden Fahey played well. That edge really did their job and gave us some key opportunities.
"Our big boys in the middle were also unreal. They did a good job controlling things."
While the Rhinos won't claim top spot yet, they move to equal first with the Tigers and trail them only on for and against.
Rhinos took a stranglehold of the contest early on, shooting out to a 16-6 lead before the home side began to claw their way back.
Tigers re-took the lead at 18-16, before Fahey slotted a penalty goal to square the ledger an 18-all.
After that, Fahey struck again with the go-ahead try to ultimately get the Red V the result
Wins as crucial as this can certainly get inside the heads of the playing group, and Petrie wants to make sure composure remains at an all-time high moving forward.
"It's great for the confidence because it means we're thereabouts in the premiership race," he said.
"But, having a win like this today sort of means nothing if we don't carry on with it into the semi-finals."
Tigers' big man Nathan Whatman - who was tireless in his approach as always - knows his men can't afford to take so long to get into the swing of things.
"We didn't start well enough," he said.
"Running out of that bottom corner is hard, and our kicking game wasn't real flash either.
"We didn't capitalise on our opportunities when we got a roll on."
With one round left, the only way for Rhinos to leap-frog Canowindra and take the minor premiership, is if the Tigers lose at Eugowra and Manildra handles business at home against Cargo.
Alternatively, there's a chance the Red V could snatch top spot even if Canowindra wins, but Rhinos would need to put Cargo to the sword.
As it stands, Manildra is 70 points behind in the differential column.
In other Cup clashes, Trundle scraped home against Eugowra with a 28-24 victory.
Molong wiped the floor with Condobolin 46-0, adding to their woes.
Lastly, Grenfell visited Cargo and took care of business, winning 40-28 in a shootout.
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