Narrabri Eagles determined to play in 2020

Following a year in the wilderness the Narrabri Eagles Australian Rules Football Club is determined to get back on the park for the 2020 AFL North West season.

There has been no footy played at ‘the Eagles’ nest’ Leitch Oval since round one of the 2019 campaign back in April last year, just weeks before the club went into recess.

Narrabri’s Australian rules football club has endured a rocky few years due to player availability, with numbers mainly impacted by injury and work commitments, as well as players relocating towns or even moving countries.

The Eagles were forced to pull out of the 2019 campaign after playing just two games.

In 2017 the club played three games before succumbing to the same fate due to the same issues.

Although the Eagles have not played a game since a 21.18 (144) to 2.5 (17) loss away from home against the Tamworth Kangaroos on Saturday, May 4, 2019, dedicated club members have been working behind the scenes ever since to ensure the club would field a team in 2020.

One of those people is the club’s president Tom Carberry who told The Courier that the Eagles had been eagerly rebuilding.

“It’s basically just been a rebuilding stage for the team ever since we went into recess last year,” Carberry said.

“That was our main focus.

“We still wanted to keep our presence in the community, going along to the Crossroads Hotel our major sponsor and hosting raffles or getting out and about and going to events such as Parkrun and wearing our jerseys.

“We are also working to have our trivia nights too that we normally do.

“The last few weeks we have been putting out advertisements in The Courier and local radio and chucking flyers around town to get some more interest.

“Since then we’ve had a few fellas young and old who’ve said they want to come have a run around.”

The club hosted its second pre-season training session at Leitch Oval on Tuesday evening which 10 players attended.

The club’s roster currently includes 20 players and at this stage the Eagles are about a 60 per cent chance of entering the 2020 AFLNW competition.

“The goal for 2020 is to obviously get the boys back on the paddock,” Carberry said.

“We have about 20 players on the books. With that I reckon there’s about a 60 per cent chance that we are going to have a go at this.

“Anything under 30 is borderline, but anything after that we’ll be happy with.

“If we get to 30 we’re going to have a really good shot at the year if everyone is going to be committed but I’d love 35.”

Carberry said that the club’s message to the community reached far beyond just players, with coaches, people keen to take on gameday roles and fans encouraged to be a part of the Eagles’ 2020 campaign.

“For the moment Dan Nixon is taking the coaching role for pre-season,” Carberry said.

“It looks like Ben Crawley our vice-president will then take a coaching approach during the season.

“We are welcoming anyone to come forward though because we would love a coach.

“Part of our rebuild isn’t just about players, it’s about getting our AFL community back together as well.

“You don’t have to be a player to be a part of the Eagles, if you want to come down and help on the day you can run some water or do the goal umpiring or even just cheer the team on.

“If you’re happy to come down and give us a hand it would be muchly appreciated.”

The Eagles are expecting to host the Crossroads Cup again this season, which is the AFLNW’s official pre-season tournament.

Narrabri has hosted that event twice successfully in 2017 and 2018.

At this stage the Crossroads Cup will be played in early April on Leitch and Hogan Ovals.

“That will be a good day again,” Carberry said.

“The Crossroads will come down and have their bar and there’ll be some food stalls down here hopefully, one will be another one of our sponsors Coogle Cafe.

“We are aiming for one team for that day, but it’s going to be 16-a-side so if we can get the numbers we will put two in.

“The Crossroads Cup is at a time of the year where rugby and other codes haven’t started yet so we get some of those fellas come over for a bit of a run around and a kick.

“We’ve always welcomed players from other codes to come and have a run at the Crossroads Cup, they are more than welcome.”

Including Carberry, the Eagles’ committee for 2020 consists of Ben Crawley (vice-president), Gabbie Collier (treasurer), Robyn Faber (secretary), and Megan Purcell, Luke McDermott, Jessie Berger and Dan Nixon (committee members).