SPEED plus size, plus possession - it was a combination that Parkes used to both destroy CSU 81-22 on Saturday and send a clear warning heading into the New Holland Cup finals series.
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Though the huge win in the final round of the regular season was not enough to elevate Parkes into second on the ladder - Dubbo Rhinos locking that in with a 52-24 win over Narromine - the defending premiers highlighted just how lethal they can be in attack.
CSU had gone into Saturday's match at Pioneer Oval on the back of consecutive wins and hopeful of an upset even though it was missing a number of regular starters.
Those hopes were soon in tatters as they faced an attacking onslaught from the huge Boars back line.
"Bad day at the office, six out of their seven backs were islanders and they were all 120 kilos and our boys are 80 kilos, so you can imagine one-on-one what happens," CSU coach Dave Conyers said.
"Just out wide they had massive size and speed and it was just too hard for us to stop them.
"They threw some long cut-out balls to their winger, he destroyed us out wide, I think he scored five tries."
Given CSU will travel to Parkes again for the minor semi-final, the match highlighted the areas the students must improve.
They need more possession and they must work on their tackling technique against physically imposing rivals.
"We just didn't have any ball, they dominated possession and every time they got the ball it was like they scored," Conyers said.
"We didn't try to tackle them low, we went high and you're not going to stop them when you do that.
"Lazy technique hurt us, the tackling bags will be out next week.
"That was difference, they had all the ball and scored the points, we had no ball and couldn't tackle."
Though CSU managed to score twice in the opening half via fullback Eli Mitchell and flyhalf Lachlan Conyers, it was Parkes which dominated the highlight reel as it shot out to a 48-17 lead.
There was no stopping the Boars from there.
"It was just grown men against boys at the end of the day, that size advantage was massive," Conyers conceded.
Though trying to mastermind a way to turn things around - and turn them around in a big way - will be a challenge for coach Conyers, there were some positives for him to work with.
What CSU did do when managing to hold onto the ball showed promise.
"Our tries were pretty opportune tries, we took our chances which was good," Conyers said.
"When we got the ball and got in position we actually looked pretty good, but that was only about 10 percent of the game, that was the problem.
"Lachie Melville played really well as usual, Phil Enright, he had his best game of the season. He did really well, he got in there and made a lot of tackles in close, did a lot of hard work, the dirty work.
"I thought Lachie Conyers played pretty well at 10 too, he scored a try, kicked a few goals and his kicking game was pretty good again.
"But we've got to regroup, reboot and try and turn it around."
PARKES BOARS 81 defeated CSU 22 (Eli Mitchell, Lachlan Conyers, Jonah Ruzgas tries; Lachlan Conyers 2 conversions; Lachlan Conyers penalty goal)
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