There wasn't a whole lot for Orange City coach Viv Paasi to like about his side's performance in Saturday's loss to the Dubbo Kangaroos.
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The Blowes Clothing Cup battlers were poor in the first half of the clash at No. 1 Oval, with errors and poor decisions allowing the hosts to skip out to a 28-3 lead by half-time.
Things didn't get a whole lot better in the second half, but the one shining light for the Lions in the 57-17 loss was the effort of captain Duncan Young.
Young, City's third full-time captain of the season after the injury-enforced losses of Josh Tremain and Cameron Cole, was everywhere on Saturday.
If he wasn't barking orders from the back of the scrum he was carting the ball forward, while some of his efforts in defence ensured the Roos' lead didn't get any bigger than it already was.
He also booted two conversions and a penalty.
"He's a great player. We lost our co-captains and we put him into the role and I was very comfortable in doing that," Paasi said.
The coach added it's "scary" to think what Young will be like a little way down the road as he continues to develop as both a player and leader.
"I haven't seen him play a bad game yet. He's always the guy who goes out and gives it his all," he added.
Young was one of the few who played at the standard Passi demanded on Saturday, leading the coach to give his side a rare spray in the half-time break.
While the young Lions side remains at the bottom of the ladder without a win, Passi is eager to see his side play out the final rounds at the level he and the players set earlier in the campaign.
"There's two weeks and four training sessions left," Paasi said with a smile.
"We set some goals and some standards and values at the start of the year and it would be really nice for us to finish the year aligning with those.
"Then we could look back and say it wasn't a great year for results but everything we did on and off the field is a step forward."
City plays host to Forbes next weekend before finishing the season with a derby clash against Orange Emus.