Last Sunday’s Group 4 rugby league contest at Kitchener Park was cut short by 19 minutes as the Gunnedah Bulldogs were decimating the Wee Waa Panthers.

The ‘mercy rule’ was utilised as the home side led 66-6 after scoring 14 tries to one, while the difference between the bottom-placed team and one of the top-placed teams was evident.

The Bulldogs were by no means faultless as they made some mistakes and missed nine kicks at goal, with coach Sean Hayne repeatedly expressing his frustration.

Gunnedah was below full strength as Dylan Lake, Ezra Gibson, Lincon Smith and KC Edmonds were missing, before Sam Taylor sustained an injury in the first half and was forced to exit the game.

Wee Waa opened the scoring in the first few minutes as Kaiden Hamilton bagged the first try, which was converted.

Toby Randall scored Gunnedah’s first try on the eight-minute mark, with the stray conversion enabling Wee Waa to maintain a short-lived two-point lead.

The Bulldogs lost the ball in the first tackle following the restart, and then the Panthers came close to scoring a try in the right corner.

A try to Nick White put the Bulldogs in front, before a try each to Trent Hilton and Jim Muller took the score to 20-6.

Clever blindside work from Callum Hayne set up a try for Mckye Tucknott, before a further three first-half tries enabled Gunnedah to lead 36-6 at half-time.

The final try of the first half looked lamentably simple as Aidan Davis ran onto a perfectly timed pass and strolled over the tryline untouched.

Toby Randall scored a great solo try in the early stages of the second half, as he fended off an opponent during a dash to the tryline.

A try to Jared Heinrich raised Gunnedah’s half-century of points in the 51st minute, and then another three tries resulted in the premature finish to the contest.

With four wins and a draw in the first five rounds, the Bulldogs moved to the top of the table on for-and-against while having the same number of competition points as Werris Creek.

With the Panthers forfeiting the reserve grade contest, the Bulldogs reserve graders achieved their first win of the season.

Gunnedah’s U18s also recorded their first victory of the year, having scored 11 tries in a 60-0 demolition.

This Saturday, the Bulldogs firsts and reserves trek to Boggabri to contest the Kangaroos while Gunnedah’s U18s have a bye.

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