Westside beat the Raiders 38-24 at Caltex Park in a match where the momentum shifted drastically on more than one occasion.

After building a 16-0 lead at half-time, Westside extended their buffer to 26 points before Macquarie hit back with four consecutive tries through Norm Button, Corey Cox, Wade Kavanagh and Matt Lane to leave the score 26-24 with nine minutes remaining.

But former Raiders Peter Boon and Dylan Hill crossed for late tries to help Westside score their second win of the 2015 season.

"It was a bit like last week where we built a big lead and then fell away but I'm just glad we were able to fight it out to the end and come away with the win," Westside coach Robbie Dunn said.

"We learned a lesson from last week, and even though I'd rather us not have those periods where we drift out of the game I'd rather look at what we're doing right.

"To get to 26-0 in front you have to be doing something right so we'll keep working on those things and hopefully we'll put a solid 80 minutes together soon."

Macquarie's chances of ending their winless skid took a hit before a ball was kicked, with captain Anthony Egan-Smith injuring a quad in the warm-up and utility Etuate Gusuivalu not turning up to the ground.

Added to injuries to fullback Mason Williams and hooker Jeremy Smith, and the absence of outside backs Chris Daley and Rowan Orcher it made for a major re-shuffle to Meredith's squad.

Also hurting their prospects was a 12-6 penalty count against them.

"We had a few things go against us today but I was pretty happy with how the boys stayed in the contest," Meredith said.

"Ant Egan hurt himself warming up and we had a few guys go down during the game as well with some injuries but I gave Jack kelly and Wade Kavanagh a chance and they did a really good job

"At 26-0 we were going nowhere but when we got back to 26-24 we got ourselves in with a sniff.

"Then all of a sudden the ref blows a couple of pretty soft penalties against us on our own line, they scored and what loomed as being a really exciting finish didn't get a chance to happen.

"We're not going to give up though. The season isn't even half-finished yet and it's not Macquarie's go to give up."

Westside's big lead was built on the back of terrific performances from former Hill, and another former Raider in winger Viliame Cagibula.

The hard-running Fijian returned from suspension to bag a pair of first-half tries while Hill, who surprisingly took the goalkicking duties in the absence of halves Josh Merritt and Swade Dunn, was a handful every time he touched the ball.

Merritt will miss another week through suspension while Dunn will undergo scans this week to determine the extent of a knee injury suffered last week.

"Any time you miss both halves you're going to struggle but I thought 'Boony' did great. He added that experience we needed," Robbie Dunn said.

"I thought Billy (Cagibula) was great for us today and Dylan had a big game as well. I think they were pretty keen to beat their old team."

Both teams are on the road this week, with Westside heading to Larkin Oval to face Nyngan while Macquarie will head south along the Newell Highway to tackle Forbes at Spooner Oval.

DUBBO WESTSIDE 38 (Viliame Cagibula 2, EJ Fernando, Brad Thorn, Peter Boon, Quentin Dickinson, Dylan Hill tries; Hill 3, Kieran Hill, Cagibula goals) def DUBBO MACQUARIE 24 (Norm Button, Corey Cox, Wade Kavanagh, Matt Lane tries; Cox 4 goals)