There’s something special brewing out at Boggabri as the Kangaroos continue their climb towards Group 4 Rugby League glory.
This year, Boggabri and District Rugby League Football Club enjoyed its most successful Group 4 campaign since rejoining the first grade comp in 2018.
Following back-to-back wooden spoon finishes in 2018 and 2019, followed by the frustration of the cancellation of the 2020 season amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Boggabri men placed sixth on the competition ladder in 2021 and could have finished as high as fifth had the season not been cut short due to regional NSW being placed into lockdown in August during round 13.
The club has vowed to return bigger and better in 2022, determined to return to the Group 4 finals and go searching for their first premiership victory since they won back-to-back grand finals in 1963 and 1964.
That 1964 championship-winning side has a special place in the hearts of many local Boggabri rugby league fans.
The late Michael Nelson, grandfather of current Boggabri Kangaroos centre Jack Gillham, played in the side which beat West Tamworth 18-17 some 57 years ago.
27-year-old Gillham has been a Kangaroo since he was six years old and has played all of his footy for the club, except for one year he spent at Gunnedah as a 17-year-old when he was a part of the Bulldogs’ under-18s premiership-winning side.
He told The Courier that he was born to be a ‘Boggi Roo’.
“He was always interested in me playing footy for Boggabri,” Gillham said of his grandfather.
“He wanted me to strive to be my best, and he was always teaching me little tricks.
“I was only young when he started showing me how to tackle properly and how to defend, and he used to show me and a few of my mates how to pass.
“They are pretty special memories.”
While Gillham and his teammates will have to wait at least another year to bring the Group 4 Rugby League premiership back home to Boggabri, they did achieve something that no
Kangaroos side has been able to since that 1964 team – beat the Gunnedah Bulldogs.
Boggabri began its 2021 season against Gunnedah in front of a packed crowd at Jubilee Oval on May 1.
The Bulldogs earned the two points that day after scoring a 24-20 victory.
However, the Kangaroos were well and truly in the contest and knew that they could beat their Gunnedah rivals in the return fixture with a few more games and training sessions under their belt.
And that they did.
At Kitchener Park on Saturday, June 26, the Kangaroos defeated the Bulldogs for the first time in 57 years.
The round eight game saw the two rivals produce another close contest as the visitors scored a 24-22 victory after Rob Doolan slotted a late penalty goal to give Boggabri a lead it would not relinquish.
“It was unreal, just great. I honestly didn’t know it’d been that long since we beat them,” Gillham said.
“I knew it would’ve been a long time, but I didn’t realise it was actually that long.
“I didn’t think we’d ever beat them, to be honest. That’s how it felt like it was going.
“But we got a late penalty goal, and I can’t even remember what time it was because the scoreboard and the time weren’t working. I think that was a good thing because we weren’t watching the clock.
“It was just good to get the win.”
“That’s pretty special,” Gillham said of his grandfather playing in the most recent Boggabri team to beat Gunnedah before this year.
“It was nice to be a part of the team to do it again. It was a special win.”
Adding to the major achievement of beating their rivals for the first time in 57 years was the fact that the Boggi men also claimed the Boyde Campbell Cup for their club for the first time that day.
Gillham was proud of his team’s efforts in 2021 and said the future looked bright.
“It’s good to be competitive again after a few years where we’ve struggled. It’s good to string some wins together. We really enjoyed that,” Gillham said.
“We’ve got a good side and a good coach, and it came together a bit this year.”
To order photos from this page click here
