Smart was a withdrawal on Sunday morning due to COVID, and despite letting Southcity back into the clash at Harris Park Kangaroos had enough answers.

Dakota Ruta crossed for a hat-trick of tries, while Jake Mascini scored a double in the 38-16 victory.

Assistant coach Tim Wykes was pleased with how the side responded after the Bulls took all the momentum into the second half.

"We did lose that control, and they took control with some experienced guys there, but we talked at half-time about needing to play to our strengths, which is high completion rates and running with purpose," Wykes said.

"It worked for us."

READ MORE

Things didn't get any easier for the reworked Kangaroos spine with hooker Trae O'Neill picking up knee issue midway through the first half.

However Mascini, Will Herring and Daniel Foley stepped up to share the playmaking responsibilities.

Without Smart, Wykes was pleased with how the team adapted.

"Losing Smarty makes the other boys realise they have to not do his job but do their job well," he said.

"As a 13 out there we had to communicate well, support each other well and do all the little bits Smarty talks constantly about.

"It puts a little bit more personal responsibility on them."

Kangaroos got off to a great start when Ruta picked up a loose ball before breaking out of a couple of tackles after nine minutes before Mascini doubled their lead following a couple of penalties.

However Southcity hit back when Kyle McCarthy found Trey Charles with a long cut out ball with 16 minutes left in the half before McCarthy closed the gap to two points with a 45-metre solo effort.

Kangaroos took a 12-10 lead into the break but really fired to start the second half.

First Foley forced his way over six minutes into the second stanza before Mascini elected to run on a last play option and ended up putting Ruta in space.

Mascini then crossed for his second with 24 minutes remaining to really have Kangaroos on top.

Southcity did respond as a nice Nick Skinner offload put Travis Smith over but a Smith error off the restart led to a Noa Fotu try before Ruta sealed the win with three minutes remaining.

Wykes was pleased with their contributions on the right edge.

"Jake and Dakota reaped the rewards but the platform was laid by our middle unit," he said.

"They just had to win that middle third and just run with purpose. Our forwards did a really good job."

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: