The "calm head" of Hayden Carpenter is expected to make a real difference for the Mudgee Dragons in the run to the Peter McDonald Premiership finals.
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The five-eighth suffered an injury at Dragons training on Friday night and was a late withdrawal from the side which took on Dubbo CYMS on Saturday.
The Dragons' attack never fully clicked against some elite CYMS defence and the Dubbo side won the much-anticipated top-of-the-table battle 18-12.
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It was just the second loss of the season for the Dragons, and while it was disappointing to lose by a narrow margin, captain Jack Beasley said the willingness to keep throwing everything at the Fishies said a lot about his side.
"It's obviously disappointing but they're a top side and really fit," Beasley said.
"In that past we probably lose that game by more but we were really resilient this year and we're really digging in for each other.
"Considering how they played, I think being within six is pretty good."
![Jack Beasley (left) and his Mudgee teammates only got to celebrate two tries in the game against Dubbo CYMS. Picture by Nick Guthrie Jack Beasley (left) and his Mudgee teammates only got to celebrate two tries in the game against Dubbo CYMS. Picture by Nick Guthrie](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/dCXpDgwTEgA52iNCe5aWtJ/a0c7cefe-93c2-4576-a116-47847ef57e76.JPG/r1143_858_3297_2192_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
While not using Carpenter's absence as an excuse for the loss, Beasley said the half's absence was felt.
The injury forced Jack Littlejohn to move from fullback back into the halves while Jayden Brown wore the number one jersey.
A knee injury for Corin Smith shortly after resulted in another reshuffle, with Brown moving to centre and Tom Lawson coming off the bench to play fullback.
The Dragons fell into too much side-to-side play at times during the second half when they struggled to break the CYMS defence.
There was a period of more than 10 minutes when the Dragons attacked the opposition line but they didn't finish with anything to show for it.
Saturday's result marked just the second time this season Mudgee had scored less than 20 points in a match.
"It's nice having Hayden out there, he's got a calm head and I think we were a bit erratic today," Beasley said.
"We'd make a break and then everyone wanted to do something but when he's out there it's a level head and we get back to our points. It will definitely help having him back."
![Hayden Carpenter's absence was felt by the Mudgee Dragons on Saturday. Picture by Amy McIntyre Hayden Carpenter's absence was felt by the Mudgee Dragons on Saturday. Picture by Amy McIntyre](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/dCXpDgwTEgA52iNCe5aWtJ/30c23e0f-108c-469b-877b-a79bda59fadf.JPG/r807_1615_7082_5339_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Beasley was forced to admit Dubbo CYMS is the current benchmark in the competition but he was adamant the Dragons wouldn't dwell on Saturday's result for too long.
Mudgee is expected to bounce back next weekend against a Lithgow side which has just two wins to its name, but the Dragons will again not be focusing on Workies too much in that match.
"There's definitely a lot to come," Beasley said.
"We don't compare ourselves to other sides. We just look at ourselves because any team can have good days and bad days.
"We just concentrate on ourselves and I know there's a few other sides coming into form now so it's anyone's game. If we can get that polish right we'll be right."
Mudgee remains four points clear of second-placed Bathurst St Pat's in the Group 10 pool while CYMS is two points ahead of Parkes in Group 11.
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