“We’ll come back from this bigger and better”

The Narrabri rugby union community received more bad news last week when Rugby Australia and its state and territory member unions made the collective decision to further postpone community rugby across the country until at least June 1 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, an extension on the initially proposed May 2 date.

And given the fact that Central North Rugby Union president Tony Byrnes has said previously that once community rugby gets the green light to go ahead the CNRU competition (operating under a revised draw) would not start immediately as clubs and players need time to prepare, any competition rugby being played in June at this stage seems unlikely at best.

There is obviously also the chance that no CNRU competition rugby will be played at any stage in 2020.

It has been a difficult pill to swallow for supporters of the Narrabri Blue Boars and the club itself, but especially for returning coach Hunter Harley who told The Courier that all signs were extremely positive during pre-season which began on February 1.

“Personally I probably couldn’t have been happier with how we were progressing,” Harley said.

“Things were coming together nicely and the boys were training really hard.

“I couldn’t have been happier with the culture.

“There’s a couple of older heads there who have definitely been a great influence on the squad and then a few young blokes who’d been kicking around for a bit under Took (former Narrabri Rugby Club first grade coach Dylan Duncan) who went to another level, they took responsibility.”

That pre-season drive and positive culture culminated in an impressive winning performance when the club welcomed Roma to Dangar Park on Saturday, March 14, for a trial game.

The Blue Boars never trailed and won a tough encounter against a well-drilled and fit Roma outfit 20-15.

“I think it was probably the best first-up hitout I’ve been associated with at Narrabri,” Harley said.

“Roma were proper fit, it was a very, very good trial, a very well-matched trial.

“Roma didn’t have the reserve bench we had at our disposal but still could have won it at the end in the last 20.

“But I thought our boys for the first game they were outstanding.

“First touch of the ball we did 14 phases or something and I’ve never had that before.

“I just loved it, it was very gratifying watching a lot of what we’ve been training for particularly just game-type skills, watching the boys execute them, that gives you great satisfaction as a coach.

“Particularly the first 25 minutes was outstanding, a lot of what we worked on in pre-season was evident.”

Harley said that a handful of players really impressed him on the night, especially returning duo Mitch Wheaton and Sean Russ.

“Mitch in the forwards, it was just great to have him back,” Harley said.

“He worked very hard and was very clinical in his role in the number eight.

“I actually thought that Sean Russ was just an out-and-out standout, his defence at 12 and the way that he and Jacob Nichols and Jacob Booby linked up in that midfield got me very excited.

“Even Jydon Hill, even though he made a few mistakes, he showed some good glimpses of fullback play.

“And back to the forwards looking at them they all played well, particularly how we’ve been training for I thought Will Turner and Joe Maunder really showed good touches with the ball and they were creating second phase play to get us on the front foot.

“Then Matt Schwager at nine was conducting things well.”

Harley said the group that he and the club had assembled for the 2020 CNRU first grade season was probably the most talented Narrabri roster he’d ever had at his disposal, and that they were certainly a premiership favourite.

The livestock and branch manager at Davidson Cameron & Co Narrabri knows a little bit about what it takes to win a top grade grand final, in fact he was the coach of the last Narrabri Blue Boars first grade team to win the CNRU premiership.

That was back in 2015 when Narrabri travelled up the Newell Highway to Moree to take on the Bulls.

Harley still has fond memories of that day, when a side which was playing in its third straight decider and was attempting to win back-to-back titles (following a home grand final victory against Pirates in 2014) well and truly hit its peak.

The Blue Boars downed their rivals Moree 30-20 as most of the side became dual champions.

“The progression from 2013 to 2015 was amazing and the biggest memory for me was that 2015 grand final,” he said.

“Obviously it was great to finally win a home grand final for the first time in 32 years or something like that in 2014.

“But that grand final in Moree special, we had our peak performance was that day, it was the closest thing to a perfect performance.

“It’s hard to beat that feeling of winning at home but as far as performance I thought 2015 was just perfect.”

While the COVID-19 pandemic has threatened to derail Narrabri’s chances of winning its first top grade grand final in five years, there is still hope that a CNRU season can be played.

Harley said that he hoped that a competition of some format would be played in 2020, and he said that he expected his men to be fit and ready should that eventuate.

“Everyone’s health and wellness is important,” he said.

“It’s very easy to sit around and drink beers and eat processed food but obviously that’s not good for you or your mindset, you’ve got to get out and try and do something.

“Because a lot of our players are agriculturally employed luckily for them they can sort of go about their day or their working life with some form of normality, but in saying that when they are very busy they tend to not do any exercise.

“So I just implore all of my blokes to do something and to stay fit and there’s no reason why they can’t do that.

“If we do get a kick-off it will be a shortened comp no matter what, so we need to be ready if that’s the case.”

Harley also had a message for Narrabri Blue Boars’ supporters and sponsors who he urged to stick by the club in some of the most testing of times.

“We appreciate all your support and we’ll come back from this bigger and better than before.

“Please stick with us during these trying times.

“No matter what, if we don’t have a season, we will have football and we will be trying to get our sponsors value for money and we will be organising things for the end of the year.

“If we don’t get a Central North comp in 2020 please be there in 2021 because I’m confident of the future of the club.

“Across the whole four grades, the whole club has been impressive this year at training and on and off the field.

“The executive is great under our new president Mick Coffey, all the coaches are on the right page and I think we are going places.”