Narrabri Rugby Club’s women’s team puts on an entertaining match at Santos Festival of Rugby

Narrabri Rugby Club’s women’s team has entered this year determined to go one better after qualifying for last season’s Central North Rugby Union grand final and going down by seven points against the Tamworth Pirates in Gunnedah.

If a trial match at the 2023 Santos Festival of Rugby is anything to go by, the side is in for another big year.

Twenty players formed two teams and competed in a 30-minute nine-a-side match at Dangar Park on Friday afternoon.

The Blue Boars were scheduled to play a 10s game against Roma, but the Echidnas pulled out late last week due to a lack of numbers.

Determined to still take the field and put their pre-season work into practice, the Narrabri women formed two teams and competed against one another in what was a high-quality match in the hottest part of the day.

Quirindi Lionesses’ captain-coach Georgia Moore travelled to Narrabri to play in the game and impressed as she scored a first half hat-trick.

Her side was behind 12-0 with just six minutes left in the first half after the other team had crossed for early tries through Bella Cruickshank and Georgie Hancock, one of which April Smith converted.

However, two Moore tries reduced the deficit to 12-10 before she crossed for her third just before the break and converted it to make the score 17-12.

Moore’s teammate on the day, Blue Boars co-captain Toni Gale, picked up right where she left off in 2022 in the second half. The Blue Boars’ leading try-scorer from last year scored the first try of the second stanza to make the score 22-17.

The opposition side hit back late in the match when Smith kicked from inside her own half for Cruickshank, and she got to the ball first before passing to Kate Brown who went over for a try.

That made the score 22-17, which was the way it remained at full-time.

The Narrabri Rugby Club’s women’s team co-coach Mick Coffey told The Courier his players put on an entertaining match in tough conditions.

“It was always going to be an emotional day for the bulk of the squad, being the first time playing without Guesty (the late Will Guest),” Coffey said.

“It was disappointing late in the week to get the notice that Roma were not coming.

“But to the girls’ credit, they rallied.

“We got a few girls out of retirement, and Georgia Moore came over from Quirindi to bolster the numbers.

“It was a really good game. It wasn’t just an internal trial or a scratch match. They aimed up and there were some good shots there.

“A lot of things we’ve been working on at training, they executed really well.

“I was really impressed with them in the heat. I’m really proud of them.

“These girls have a really good bond, and they work really hard for each other. I think that can see us go all the way this year.”

Coffey said that he was particularly impressed with one of the side’s new recruits, Abbey Anderson. Anderson suffered a broken nose early in the match but played well in what was her first game of rugby while she was on the field.

He also said Gerri Cruckshank and Tenayah Woodward, who will be the number nines for the club until the injured Tori Allison returns later in the year, played quite well at halfback. They played a half each for both of the teams and impressed in the tough conditions.