Narrabri Rugby Club’s women’s 10s side impresses in convincing win against St Albert’s

Narrabri Rugby Club’s women’s team made a statement on Saturday – it is going to be a force to be reckoned with in 2022.

The Blue Boars took on St Albert’s College’s women’s team at Dangar Park in the first of a trio of curtain-raisers to the Hannaford-Southwell Shield match.

The Narrabri side, led by coaches Kate Brown and Peta Cox, dominated from start to finish in a 60-14 rout.

The Blue Boars led from the 45th second until the final whistle and outscored the Albies side 10 tries to two and five conversions to two.

They were too fit, too fast, and were simply phenomenal.

The Narrabri team adapted to the 10s format seamlessly after spending the past few seasons playing sevens.

They also handled the jump from two 14-minute matches, usually split by a senior man’s match, to a single game played across four consecutive 10-minute quarters quite well.

New recruits Kiara Harvey, Brooke McKinnon, Bella Cruickshank and Tori Allison all impressed on debut for the club and added to the great brand of footy that the Blue Boars play.

Narrabri Rugby Club president Mick Coffey told The Courier last week that he predicted the women’s 10s match would be the most entertaining of the day and he confirmed after the match that the two teams certainly had not let him down.

“I was talking the girls up before Saturday and I think they were even better than anyone expected,” he said.

“Looking back at our performance, there’s real encouragement there with what might be to come for the season and there is real expectation on them now.

“Make no mistake, that is the result of a big preparation and also plenty of commitment from the girls and the coaches.

“You could see the class of Kate Brown and Peta Cox probably lift the performances of some of our other what you’d call senior players.

“Toni Gale and April Smith were outstanding as well and Tori Allison in her first hitout was really good.

“In that team, you’ve got someone who has represented their country down to someone making their debut and they all played amazing.

“They’ve worked so hard and they’ve communicated so well at training, which has translated to a really strong performance on game day.”

Martha Harvey and April Smith both crossed for hat-tricks in their side’s 46-point victory and the other four five-pointers were shared between Carly Baxter, Shona McFarland, Bella Cruickshank and Toni Gale.

Former Narrabri fan favourite Smith returned to the fold in style for the Blue Boars on Saturday as she made an immediate impact.

She made a break down the right edge in the opening minute of the contest and, although she was tackled, got her hands back on the ball seconds later and threw an offload close to the line to Harvey who scored to put the hosts ahead 5-0.

That lead stretched out to 12-0 in the seventh minute when Smith did it all herself. She charged over the halfway line and produced a sensational chip and chase just inside Albies territory and then regathered and crossed the tryline before converting her own try.

A minute later, Blue Boars debutant Cruickshank made a storming run down the right edge and was taken down 10 out from the line but popped the ball up to a supporting attacker in Baxter who went over in the corner to make the score 17-0.

The first quarter came to an end with a brilliant defensive display by the Blue Boars’ co-captain Gale, who chased down an Albies attacker who had made a break down the sideline and looked set to open the visitors’ account.

Gale not only tackled her but took her into touch to ensure the home side went into the break with a clean sheet.

The Blue Boars started the second term just as they finished the first. They defended superbly before they added to the scoreline four minutes after play restarted when Smith made a line break in her own half and ran 70 metres to cross the stripe and make the score 22-0.

The became 22-7 just before the bell sounded for half-time when Albies scored a runaway try and converted it to finally trouble the scorers.

Narrabri came out firing and started the second half just as it started the first – with an early Harvey try.

The halfback fed a scrum 10 metres out from her own line and then broke the line before charging upfield and scoring under the posts. She converted that try to make the score 29-7.

Cruickshank then made the score 34-7 with four minutes left to play in the third term after diving over for a try on debut, and then McFarland went over for Narrabri’s seventh, just seconds before the three-quarter-time bell sounded after breaking two tackles and running 40 metres down the right edge to make the score 39-7.

Albies got the final term underway with a converted try to reduce their deficit to 25 points, but Harvey then put the result beyond doubt when she scored another sublime runaway try moments later.

She added the extras after going over for her hat-trick to make the score 46-14.

There were still five minutes left to play following Narrabri’s eighth try, which gave the hosts time to crack the half-century mark in front of a loud home crowd.

The Blue Boars got the job done when McKinnon produced a superb offload to release Smith 22 metres out from the line, who raced away to score her third and then converted it to make the score 53-14.

The hosts scored another converted try late in the game as Gale crossed the stripe and added the extras to make the final score 60-14.