The Gunnedah Bulldogs amassed a 60-point victory in Group 4 rugby league for the third time this season, as they won an error-ridden match 64-4 against the Wee Waa Panthers at Kitchener Park last Sunday.
The contest was shifted from Cook Oval due to Wee Waa’s home ground being unfit for play because of wet conditions.
Gunnedah finished the round in second place on the ladder while being equal on competition points with three other teams, yet last Sunday’s victory was largely disappointing for the Bulldogs.
Their mistake rate was lamentably high despite scoring 12 tries in an hour’s play, while centre Ryley Mackay and coach Sean Hayne were sent from the field after earning the ire of the referee.
There was also some unsavoury conduct from a section of the crowd, causing further angst.
With the Panthers winless this season while seven of their previous fixtures invoked the ‘mercy rule’ due to losing by 60 points, the Bulldogs were always destined to record another 60-point win and cause an early finish.
Gunnedah had beaten Dungowan 60-0 in 45 minutes during the previous round, while it took North Tamworth barely 32 minutes to achieve the same scoreline against Wee Waa.
Had the Bulldogs worked efficiently and played to their ability in last Sunday’s match, they could have secured their 60-point win by half-time.
Instead, they had to wait until the 61st minute of the scheduled 80-minute game after bumbling their way through much of it.
The Bulldogs also beat Wee Waa by 60 points in a similar amount of time on May 25, and on both occasions the Panthers scored first.
Last Sunday, the Bulldogs moved the ball wide in the first 20 seconds when a pass found the sideline.
Mackay was sent to the sin bin for a dangerous tackle in the ensuing set, and then Kaedn Hamilton scored the opening try to give Wee Waa a shock 4-0 lead.
Mckye Tucknott scored Gunnedah’s opening try in the sixth minute, with Sam Taylor converting from the left sideline to put the Bulldogs in front 6-4.
KC Edmonds scored next, and then Mackay scored shortly after returning from his 10-minute stint on the sidelines.
The tries kept coming, with Jared Heinrich, Callum Hayne, Ezra Gibson and Max Turner scoring once each before Mackay’s second try took the half-time score to 46-4.
Gunnedah’s error rate matched the scoring rate, however, with mistakes including knock-ons, a couple of fruitless kicks, an offside penalty and a high tackle penalty.
From one of those penalties, Wee Waa failed to find the sideline from the kick.
A forward pass resulted in a disallowed try to Gunnedah before another try was bombed because of a poor pass.
The blunders continued in the second half as there was a knock-on and a forward pass, before the Bulldogs conceded a couple of penalties and were marched 10 metres for dissent on one occasion.
Gunnedah’s total reached 50 when Dylan Lake scored a try off a blatant forward pass in the 49th minute, and then the Bulldogs squandered possession with another wasteful kick.
Tucknott scored in the 54th minute before the Bulldogs came up with another knock-on, and then the Panthers were awarded a questionable penalty for a supposed high tackle.
The Bulldogs were again marched 10 metres for dissent before another suspect penalty went Wee Waa’s way, prompting an angry reaction from a number of locals on and off the field.
The referee ordered Sean Hayne onto the field, and then sent him off after the coach had sat on the interchange bench as usual.
Tucknott scored his third try of the day, and then Edmonds made a big run before releasing a clever flick pass to Wil Patterson who scampered away for the four-pointer which brought the game to an end.
