One was left with a broken jaw. One taken to hospital with a spinal injury.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The ones that were left behind showed all the grit and determination they could muster to inspire the Goulburn Bulldogs to a 56-12 thrashing of the Yass Magpies in round two of the Canberra Raiders Cup at Goulburn Arena on Sunday.
Goulburn fullback Tyler Cornish has a suspected broken jaw after he found himself on the wrong end of a shoulder charge, while centre Dillon Rota was taken to hospital with a spinal injury.
Rota has recovered but Cornish is set for a lengthy stint on the sideline in what looms as a devastating blow for the ladder leaders.
But Goulburn coach Adam Kyle says the character they showed to rise above adversity makes this one of the most inspiring wins he has been a part of.
"Tyler Cornish is looking like he has broken his jaw, their centre hit him with a shoulder charge so that was really unfortunate," Kyle said.
"We had [Rota] taken away by an ambulance with a spinal injury but he has since recovered and is okay.
"We played pretty much the last 40 minutes with only one player on the bench so the boys really dug deep with that and kept pushing for each other.
"[This win shows we have] plenty of character. I told them at the end it was one of the proudest performances for me as a coach throughout my coaching career.
"If we can keep delivering that every week, with the courage and the passion we did for the club [we'll go far]. The crowd really got behind us as well, so super proud of our willingness to keep in that fight, and execution to score points as well.
"We're really lucky this year, we've recruited really heavily and we've got some good young talent here in Goulburn. We're pretty excited and it gives someone else an opportunity to step into their shoes and keep the good work going that we've been doing.
Bulldogs lock Haydon Hodge scored three tries to send Goulburn to the top of the ladder after the opening fortnight of the season.
But it was the performance of halfback Nicholas Cornish that was among the most stirring after his brother was taken out of the contest.
"Nicholas has really come on in leaps and bounds this year, he had a year last year when he was really still working out his game and working out what was best for him," Kyle said.
"He has come back this season playing alongside his brothers and he has done a lot of work on his game. It is probably his defence that I'm most proud of, he is really getting off the line and putting some good hit into his contact.
"We know what he can do in attack, but it's all of those other little things. I'm really happy with how all of them are going at the moment.
"We knew Yass were going to come in here and play hard, and try to knock us off our game.
"We talked all week about making sure we did all the little things right and came out and delivered a great performance. But it came at a bit of a cost."
The round had opened with a thrilling Queanbeyan derby when the Kangaroos came back from the brink to salvage a 28-all draw against the Blues at Seiffert Oval on Saturday.
Woden Valley posted a 26-10 win over Belconnen United while West Belconnen thrashed Gungahlin 60-18.
GOULBURN BULLDOGS 56 (H Hodge 3, J Aubusson 2, M Worboys 2, N Cornish, I Lanham, L Oakley tries; C Hart 8 goals) bt YASS MAGPIES 12 ( T Vanisi, S Davis tries; S Davis goal).