Parkes' first grade Boars have made a solid start to their premiership defence with a first-up win - in the third round of the New Holland Cup - on Saturday.
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The Rhinos came into the game with two wins from their opening two matches but it was Parkes who raced out to an early lead in their first chance to actually take the field.
Dylan Hood led the team onto Northparkes Oval in his 100th senior game for the Parkes Rugby Club and the hosts immediately stood up, scoring first points just four minutes into the game.
The Rhinos took the starting kick-off, which was well caught by Parkes who ran it back through to the 40m line.
Semi Junior found the ball on his chest and took off down the wing to plant it out wide. Unfortunately the kick scraped the front of the posts but the Boars were away 5-0 and would extend that to 24-0 over the following minutes of play.
Semi made it a double when he took a high pass on the 40m and outstepped the opposition to plant the ball under the posts. This time the kick was sound and Parkes had a 12-0 lead.
"Zorro" Bainivalu was next to score, pushing over the line in a well played team try out wide of the posts, followed by winger Mick Murphy on his first grade debut.
Down 24-0, Dubbo Rhinos rallied, pushing the Boars' defence back to the tryline and - after several penalty scrums - claiming their first points.
A Parkes miscommunication saw Dubbo handed the ball within the 10m just on half time and they couldn't miss this opportunity.
The ball was placed under the posts and the conversion was successful for a 24-12 score at half time.
The second half started with scrappy play from both sides and the penalties were starting to impact the flow of the match.
It wasn't until six minutes out from full time that Dubbo swooped on a dropped ball on the 5m and planted it over the tryline to bring the score to 24-17.
With only moments left in the match Parkes was awarded a penalty on the 22m and opted to kick for points.
Lock forward Jacob Hardie nudged the ball over the black dot to give Parkes the win 27-17.
The mighty Boars seconds ran on against a very seasoned Dubbo Rhinos side, and in this match it was Dubbo who took control in the first half with the game played in the forwards.
Jackson Hay, inside centre, crossed halfway through the second half for the Boars' only points.
Thomas Wood, named players' player, kept the troops rallied but Rhinos dominated the scoring, winning 34-5.
The Boars women travelled to Wellington to take on the Redbacks on Friday night, triumphing 41-15.
It was a tough match with big hits and strong running from both sides, but Parkes retained the ball more and used clever passing to make the most of their fitness.
This coming weekend all the Boars teams will travel to Bathurst to face off against CSU Mitchell.
Thanks to Cath Ryan for her assistance with this match report.