Narrabri Blue Boars are champions of Central North Rugby Union once again.
For the first time since 2014 and 2015, when Narrabri Rugby Club’s first XV went back-to-back, and for the 13th time in their illustrious 58-year history, the club got its hands on the prestigious Heath Shield when it celebrated a first grade premiership victory on Saturday.
The Blue Boars did so in dominant fashion – away from home with a 25-8 win against Gunnedah Red Devils.
Co-captain and outside centre Will McDonnell rose to the occasion with a standout performance, one that saw him named as the player of the grand final, while the side’s fullback Jydon Hill continued his ascendancy as one of the club’s key men with a brilliant game that included two try assists and an array of effective kicks.
Fellow co-captain and the town’s dual-code sensation Jacob Nichols was dominant in attack and defence as he produced yet another five-star game that Narrabri Blue Boars fans have become accustomed to.
Then there was young halfback Tom Nolan, who produced a performance that was well beyond his years in his first grand final to wrap up his maiden first grade season in style.
Up front, the forward pack led by the likes of Sam Spanton, Jack Maunder, Sam Knight and Daniel Kahl were tackling machines and dominated at the set piece for the entire 80 minutes.
They won almost every battle that they faced.
Then out wide, wingers Toby Knight and Felix Cobb-Johnson looked as though they were playing in their fifth CNRU first grade grand finals, not their first, such was their influence on the game.
Upon reflection, naming Narrabri players individually is quite unjust to every other player, given the brilliant effort of the entire Blue Boars team.
Gunnedah went into the decider as the favourites after securing minor premierships in 2021 and 22 and also having enjoyed the better of the head-to-head battle against the Blue Boars during the past 13 months.
But when it was all said and done, that meant very little as the Narrabri men prevailed.
First-year coach Jake Packer was a proud man at full-time and told The Courier to win the CNRU grand final was special.
“I can’t explain the feeling. I don’t know what to put into words. It’s just amazing,” he said.
“It’s unreal.
“These boys have worked extremely hard over the past two years and they should have had the shot last year, but they didn’t with COVID.
“As I’ve said before, there’s been a feeling of unfinished business all year.
“To go through the season with this bunch of blokes is amazing.
“I’m proud of the whole club. Our target this year was to build the club up and have a one-club mentality and really just get the whole club working together.
“So, to have two teams in the grand final was great. The girls played great and just went down, then us to win it is just amazing.
“It took our boys to back themselves today like they did last week.
“We knew it would be tough, but we knew if we stuck to our processes and did the little things right, we’d get away with the win.
“Our defence was big too. That was our biggest thing this week. We knew we had to be better, and we were.”
Packer was also full of praise for his hometown, which he said had made grand final week feel special for the club, and also commended the Blue Boars’ travelling fans, who he said were the loudest crowd of the day.
On the field, the first real talking point of the 2022 first grade decider arose in the ninth minute when gun Gunnedah Red Devils second-rower Tim McDermott came down from a lineout and fell to the ground in agony as he sustained a game-ending lower leg injury.
The hosts hit the lead soon after play resumed following that injury break when their fullback and captain James Perrett kicked a penalty goal to put the Red Devils ahead 3-0.
That became 3-all just six minutes later when the Blue Boars responded with a penalty goal of their own that Toby Knight slotted.
The first try of the contest saw the Blue Boars take the lead in the 27th minute when McDonnell charged at the Gunnedah right edge defence and offloaded a superb flick pass to Hill, who moved it with quick hands to Felix Cobb-Johnson. The winger charged down the sideline and then crossed the tryline before cutting in to give Knight a kick from in front, which he slotted to make the score 10-3.
Gunnedah made it 10-8 in the 32nd minute when a superb Marcus Hayne cutout pass put right winger Darrell Morrison over to score in the corner.
Narrabri then established a 13-8 lead right on half-time when Knight kicked his side’s second penalty goal of the game.
Both sides threw everything at one another in the second stanza, but time and time again it was the Blue Boars that came away with the big plays in the big moments.
Throughout the entire half, Blue Boars supporters were sitting and waiting for that ‘oh no, here they come’ moment from the Red Devils.
However, to the disappointment of the hundreds of home fans in attendance, that moment never came.
For former Blue Boars coach Hunter Harley, that came down to Narrabri’s drive in defence and its refusal to let the Red Devils get any momentum or consistent field possession.
Narrabri went ahead by 12 points in the 62nd minute when a deflected Hill kick, after the fullback had run onto a McDonnell pass and broken the line, put Knight away down the right sideline and he became the third winger of the day to dive over to score.
He squared up to ground the ball between the sticks and then kicked the goal from in front to make the score 20-12.
One of the Blue Boars’ standouts across the past two seasons then made it a three-possession game in the 73rd minute. That was second-rower Sam Knight, who, with a taped head after temporarily leaving the field earlier in the half to have a cut treated, charged over from close range between the sticks to put Narrabri ahead 25-8.
That was the way the score remained when the 80th minute arrived.
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