Dubbo CYMS' first local derby loss in more than a decade has been made all the more painful by a season-ending injury to one of its premiership winners.
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Five-eighth Claude Gordon is expected to miss the rest of the 2024 Peter McDonald Premiership after undergoing jaw surgery on Wednesday, May 1.
Gordon suffered the blow to the jaw during Sunday's round one loss to the Macquarie Raiders, but Fishies coach Shawn Townsend holds no hard feelings over the incident.
Macquarie captain-coach Jack Kavanagh made contact with Gordon's jaw in the first half at Apex Oval but it went unpunished at the time.
"It was an accident more than anything," Townsend said.
"At half-time a few blokes were a bit cranky ... but I checked it (on video) and it's just part of footy.
"There wasn't much in Claude's. I think he just got him in the wrong spot."
Sunday marked the first time Macquarie had scored a first grade win over CYMS since the 2013 season.
Roko will miss the round two trip to take on Bathurst Panthers and James Stanley will likely serve a one-week suspension after being put on report and sin-binned late on Sunday, but Townsend expects everyone to be available after the bruising loss.
Mitch Cleary will take on the five-eighth role, having filled it at times when Gordon was unavailable last season.
The versatile 21-year-old started in the back-row against the Raiders but ended up filling a number of positions as the Fishies' worries mounted.
"He played as a six when he was a kid out at Coonamble," Townsend said.
"We had started doing some stuff with him in the back-row but playing as a bit of a six anyway. He was going to be taking one less hit-up and we were trying to get him a bit more creative."
While having someone of Cleary's skillset is a bonus, the loss of Gordon remains a real blow.
Not the type of half to dominate a match, 35-year-old Gordon provided valuable direction and experience last season. He was the perfect foil for 23-year-old halfback Jordi Madden and played a key role in CYMS' run to premiership glory.
"We planned for maybe missing him at different stages during the season or during games, but not for the whole season," Townsend said.
"He's pretty clever. He'd been doing it with us for the past couple of years and he's just pretty smart."
As disappointing as the loss to Macquarie was, Townsend wasn't getting too carried away post-match.
While taking nothing away from a Raiders side which played more than half the match a man down after Pauta's send-off, the coach lamented a number of missed chances.
Townsend also thought the energy levels of his side could have been better, but admitted the injuries and forced changes played a major role in that.
"If we had won on the weekend, everyone would have been raving what a good win," Townsend said.
"But it doesn't take away from the performance that we had. We could have had a little more energy, but in saying that we only had 12 fit players for the final 15 minutes of the game.
"That might have drained them but we'll just keep going along the same path. There's nothing too much wrong, we've just got to clean up a couple of areas."